Going Home
by hazel-dream
Summary: Paul gives up on Suze and moves back to Seattle. When he returns he finds himself thrown back into the world he left behind.He aslso finds a new love interest. The problem is that she doesn't want anything to do with him. COMPLETE
1. Default Chapter

Paul has finally given up on Suze and decides to move back to Seattle. But when he returns to the life he left behind he gets a few new surprises….and a new love interest. Too bad she wants nothing to do with him. But Paul Slater has never been one to give up…PaulOC

HEY EVERYONE! THIS STORY WILL BE WRITTEN IN PAUL'S POV SO…..YEAH

Chapter 1: leaving for good

"Suze come on!" I yelled from my convertible that was double parked in the school's loading zone.

I ran my hand through my brown slightly curled hair while tapping my hand on the steering wheel impatiently.

She finally came running down the sidewalk, her brown curly hair messed and her cheeks flushed.

Probably just got out of a make out session with DeSilva.

My stomach began to churn just thinking about it. I had seen them making out in the halls numerous times. Each time she would smile up at him and he would run his hands through her hair. It should be my hands in her hair and my lips on hers. Not his.

Sure I had told Suze that I was ok with her and Jesse and that I was over her… but that wouldn't be the first time I have lied.

She hoped into the passenger seat next to me. Damn she looked hot. She always looked hot. Today she was wearing a short denim skirt and w white shirt with a duck on it that said 'shut the duck up'. Cute. I wonder how she got by Sister Ernestine wearing that.

She nodded at me and I took it as a queue that she was ready to go. So I stepped on the gas and sped off toward my house.

Why is Suze coming to my house you ask? Well we are going to have hot passionate sex.

Not.

Today was just the basic shifter lessons.

Halfway there Suze turned down "Numb" by Linkin Park that had been blasting on the radio.

"Paul can you pull over up here? We need to talk." she said.

We need to talk.

The words of death.

What the hell had I done? I mean I haven't even tried to make a move on her in like… two days!

Or was it two hours?

I pulled the car over, put it in park, and turned off the ignition.

Suze looked kind of nervous and I noticed that she was chewing on her lower lip.

Maybe she was going to confess her undying love for me…

"I am stopping the shifter lessons Paul."

…or not.

"What the hell are you talking about Suze?" my voice rising.

She turned to look at me, "Me and Jesse are getting married after I graduate this year and I think that it would be best if we just ended it."

"Why?"

"Because Paul!" she was getting flustered, "Its just…not working."

"Did DeSilva tell you to do this?" I asked between my teeth.

She glared at me, "No he did not Paul. He doesn't even know that I am doing this. I decided this on my own."

Shit.

I thought about it for a bit and then suddenly… it all started to make sense.

I smirked at her, "I know why you are really doing this."

She crossed her arms over her chest, "And what would that be?"

"You're scared. You're scared that the more time you spend with me the less you may want to marry that cowboy."

Her cheeks turned red in rage and I could literally see the flames in her eyes. She looks hot when she's mad…

"That is so not it Paul and you know it! I love Jesse! There is no way that you could make me want to change my mind!"

I moved closer to her and she stiffened.

"Are you sure?" I asked in my deep sexy voice.

I brought my hand around the back of her neck and pulled her toward me.

"Paul what the-"

But I didn't let her finish. Leaning into her I forced my lips onto hers. She squealed against my lips and I smirked. She would get into it soon enough. She has never been able to resist my kisses.

And yet she did.

She stopped fighting, but she just sat there, stiff and unresponsive.

Suddenly her fist came out and connected with my jaw. I went reeling into the steering wheel and hit my head on it.

Owww that would hurt tomorrow…

"Paul! What the hell is your problem!" she yelled at me, "Why do you always do that?"

"Because I know that you like it," I smirked.

Her face flushed red with fury, "You know that's not true Paul. Not anymore."

Not anymore…

I didn't know what to say. She sounded sincere.

She hadn't responded to my kiss. Not at all. I had put everything into that kiss, trying to get her to give in.

She didn't care anymore.

I could feel my chest tighten painfully.

So this is what heartbreak felt like…

Suze sighed when she realized that her words had gotten through to me.

Then she got out of the car, closed the door, and walked away.

But this time, when she walked away…it was different.

Because this time I wasn't going to follow.

And I never would again…

……………………FIVE DAYS LATER……………………

I stared up at the ceiling in my room. But it wasn't the same ceiling I had been looking up at for the past two years.

I was laying in my old bed. In my old house. Back in Seattle.

I guess you could say that I gave up on Suze for good. I'm not stupid, though sometimes my hormones cloud my better judgment….

I knew that I didn't have a chance with Suze. She was done with me.

So I was done with her.

No point in wasting my time when then were hundreds of other girls who were throwing themselves at my feet.

Suddenly there was a knock on my door and I was startled out of my thoughts.

When I looked I saw my little brother Jack enter my room.

"Paul? Can I ask you something?" he asked softly, his blue eyes staring at me hopefully.

I sighed. I knew exactly what I was going to ask. He had been asking me the same question since I had arrived a day ago.

"Did something happen between you and Suze?"

Bingo.

I rolled off me bed and kneeled in front of him, messing up his light brown curly hair.

"Nah," I smiled, "I just missed you too much."

It was true. I had missed being the older brother. I guess I was just too obsessed with Suze to see that.

Jack rolled his eyes as if he didn't believe me. But behind that I could sense him smiling. He was happy to have me back.

"So you want me to drive you to school?" I asked.

He smiled and nodded.

"Let's go," I smirked, "I can't wait to get back there."

………………….SEATTLE HIGHSCHOOL……………….

It looked the same. Same tall white pillars. Same clean glass windows that cirled the building. Same people rushing into the school so that they wouldn't be late for first period.

I smiled as I entered the school and a group of cheerleaders in short skirts walked by me smiling.

Another good thing about this school.

Its not Catholic.

That means no sister Ernestine. No dress codes.

"Paul Slater," a smooth voice said from behind me.

When I turned around I saw my old pal Chris Parker walking up to me. His black hair fell into his bright green eyes. A girl with blonde hair and a big chest hung onto his black denim jacket that covered his white Linkin Park shirt.

"Hey man," I smacked his shoulder and pointed to the chick on his arm, "Who's your girl?"

He looked at her, "Oh this is Sarah Nelson."

She frowned, "It's Clarissa Nelson baby."

He shrugged his shoulders and she walked away with her hands balled into fists.

"I can't remember half their names sometimes," Chris said to himself.

I heard and smirked.

Still the player that Chris. Before I left we were both the hot shots of the school. I couldn't wait to take that reputation back.

The tone went and everyone started to run off to class except me and Chris who took our time.

"So what brings you back to Seattle man? We all thought that you would be staying in Carmel." Chris said.

"Things didn't work out over there," I said.

"Too bad man."

We walked into our first class, English.

Immediately walking to the back of the class where I normally sat I was greeted with 'hey Paul', 'welcome back', 'call me later Paul!'.

I smiled.

But as I reached the back of the class my smile vanished.

Sitting in my spot at the back of the class near the window was a girl.

And damn was she fine…

Her wavy dark red hair cascaded down her shoulders and her deep brown eyes stared out the window as if in a daze. Her skin was smooth and I couldn't help but notice how she curved in all of the right places. She wore a pair of tight dark jeans with a black silk belt around her waist. She wore a red shirt that had a picture of 'My Chemical Romance' on it. She twirled a strand of hair around her fingers. I noticed that her nails were painted black.

I walked up to her and waited to see if she would notice me.

She didn't.

I cleared my throat.

Nothing.

Leaning into her ear I whispered, "hey."

She jumped and turned to look at me. Her warm brown eyes were mesmerizing. Nestled between the brown was specks of gold.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"Hey I'm Paul Slater. I don't remember you. Did you transfer her within the last two years?" I asked in my smooth sexy voice.

"Yeah I transferred at the beginning of first semester," she said.

I nodded.

"You happen to be in my seat," I said smoothly.

Her full lips curved up into a smirk, "I don't see your name on it."

I laughed, "You'll just have to take my word for it."

"I don't think so," she tapped her fingers on the top of the desk, "I like it here actually and I don't really feel like moving."

She reminded me of Suze in a way. Stubborn, rebellious…hot.

Before I could say anything else Mr. Barnes walked into the class and cleared her throat.

"Mr. Slater," he said in his high voice, "I see you have returned to us. Please take a seat."

I looked back at the girl to see her smiling up at me. Her eyes shone with a message that said ha-in-your-face.

Winking at her I turned and sat two rows in front of her. Chris sat beside me.

"Who was that chick?" I asked him a few minutes later.

"Oh her? That's Hailey Thomas. She was expelled from her old school in Chicago last year so she moved here," he whispered.

"Why was she expelled?" I asked.

"I heard that she was found outside of class having a breakdown. She was beating herself or something. She's hot, but a little on the weird side."

Hmm………she sounds interesting.

She may be a good way to occupy my time for now…


	2. Another

Chapter 2: another

As soon as class was over Hailey rushed out the door before I could grab her. Of course, being a Slater… I followed. But as soon as I turned around the corner she was gone.

Damn.

"Paul? Is that you?" a high pitch voice asked from behind me.

When I turned I was face to face with Hannah Kellen. Her blonde hair fell past her shoulders in wisps. She had curled it today and I could smell the hairspray flowing off of her. Disgusting.

"Hannah. Yeah it's me," I said.

Then next thing I knew she jumped into my arms, pressing her glossed lips to mine.

God this girl just never quits.

I had dated her before I left for Carmel, but before I left I broke it off with her. She was just to clingy and she thought that we were going to get married or something stupid like that.

Pulling her off me I held her at arms length. She smiled up at me with a big toothy grin.

"I missed you baby," she licked her lips, "we should get together after school."

"I don't think so," I said and then walked around her.

She followed.

"Why not! I mean, why don't we just start where we left off?" she begged.

"Ok then. Because if I remember correctly where we left off is when I duped you," I scowled.

"You were just kidding baby!" she squealed.

Ignoring her I continued to walk to my next class which was science. Hannah gave up half way when she had to go to her French class. Thank god.

When I walked into science I was disappointed to find that Hailey wasn't there.

Oh well better luck next class.

…………LATER………..

Lunch was a bore. Just random girls wanting to know how California was and if I wanted to go out later. I got at least five phone numbers. I wouldn't call though. Not unless I was desperate to get some quick…

I asked around about Hailey and each person had said the same thing. She was expelled for having a meltdown outside of class.

I had talked to this girl named Catherine and she had gone to the same school but had already moved when the incident had happened.

"I remember her always being really weird," she had said, "I would always see her in the local cemetery or just wandering the streets."

As I made my way to fifth period which was art I thought it all over. Why would she beat herself? Maybe she was crazy? Or was it something else?

When I walked into the class I smiled. Sitting by the window, sketching something onto paper, was Hailey.

Running my hand through my hair I walked over to her and sat beside her. She tensed.

"What do you want Slater?" she asked, not looking up.

I smiled, "There's no seating arrangement in this class so I can sit where I want. And I want to sit right here."

She sighed and continued sketching.

It was nice. The sketch I mean. It was of a woman in a flowing robe leaning against a tree looking up at the moon. Leaning against the tree beside her was a small girl who was holding the woman's hand. Something about the little girl stood out. She had what looked like a faint glow around her. She looked like a ghost.

"That's good," I mentioned, "who are they?"

"Just people," she mumbled.

I smirked.

"Mr. Slater. Are you just going to sit there staring at Hailey or are you planning on actually doing some art?" the instructor asked.

I smiled, "I haven't decided yet."

Hailey's cheeks flamed with embarrassment when everyone in the room began to snigger. To add effect I put my arm around her shoulders and pulled her into my chest. She smelled good. Like vanilla and rain.

She instantly stiffened though, and I could hear her mumbling profanity to herself. Suddenly she grabbed my hand that was on her shoulder and twisted it. I yelped in pain and jumped out of my chair, but she didn't let go yet. She twisted it behind my back and whispered in my ear.

"Touch me again," she whispered and I felt a shiver go down my spine when her lips touch my ear, "and you will never use your hands again."

Then she let go of my arm and went to sit with a group of girls near the door.

Damn…I see that I have a challenge on my hands. Oh well, I like challenges. And I'm sure that my very capable hands can handle it… ahem.

As soon as the bell rang to sound that school was out for the day I followed Hailey out of the class.

"What do want Slater?" she mumbled.

"Why on earth would you assume that I wanted something?" I put on a mock innocence smile, "Maybe I am just walking with my good friend Hailey."

She stopped dead in her tracks and glared at me, "I'm not stupid Slater. Just because I'm new here doesn't mean that I haven't heard all about you. I know how you drag girls in, get what you want, and then drop then faster then hot cakes."

Wow. She was good. She had me down to a tee.

"How do you know that I haven't changed? You know that when I was in California I was going to a Catholic school. The teachers there really changed my life."

She cocked an eyebrow me, "Bullshit."

I brought my hand to my ears, "Ah! My virgin ears!"

She rolled her eyes and started to walk by me when I grabbed her arm and pulled her close to my face.

"You mean to say that you aren't the least bit interest?" I smiled down at her.

God her eyes were beautiful. Not as bright as Suze's but her shone with a sort of mystery. A mystery that I wanted to find out…

"Not in the least," she snapped.

Then she shoved me into a locker and pushed her way through the swarm of teens trying to get home.

I had my work cut out for me with this one. With Suze at this point I already had her blushing…but Hailey…she was different.

……………..THAT NIGHT……………

After dinner I decided to go out for a walk. There was a small park a few blocks away from my house so I headed that way.

It was a quarter to midnight so the park was deserted. I shivered as the cold wind blew in my face softly. Definitely not as warm as Carmel California. There I would wear shorts and a t-shirt and be warm, but here in Seattle I had to put on jeans and a jacket over my shirt to keep warm.

As I walked through the park I noticed something glowing off in the distance by the playground. When I got closer I noticed that it was a little girl. She was dead, which explained the faint glow surrounding her. She wore a pink jumper and had her blonde hair up in pigtails.

She wasn't alone either.

A figure knelt in front of her, holding the little girl's hands. The figure was wearing black pants and a black hoodie. The hood was up so I couldn't see the person's face. Judging how nicely the pants fit I would have to say that it's a girl. She was a mediator.

"Did you tell her?" the little girl asked softly.

I gagged, another mediator who did charity cases. What a waste of time.

"Yes," the girl said, "Your mom says that she forgives you for hitting your sister. You can rest now Mandy."

The little girl gave off the biggest smile, and then faded away.

The girl stood up and turned towards me. When she saw me she stopped dead.

I clapped my hands, "Very well done."

The girl didn't say anything.

But she did turn and run.

I smirked. I love the chase.

I ran after the girl. She was fast for a girl, but I'm faster. I caught up with her fast and grabbed the sleeve on her hoodie. She gasped when she was forced to stop and I pulled her close to me so she couldn't run.

"Let me go you fucking pervert!" she yelled and beat at my chest.

"Such language," I laughed.

Before she could do anything I grabbed her hold and pulled it down so that I could see her face.

"Hailey?" I gasped.

Wow. Hadn't expected that…

Her big brown eye glared at me. Her cheeks were flushed from the cold wind and running.

She was I mediator… I was a shifter… she could have… potential.

I smirked.

"Let me go Paul," she said harshly as she struggled.

"I don't think so," I said, pulling her closer so that my faces was a few inches from hers.

I could feel her blush slightly.

"That's quite the talent you have there," I whispered, "not many people can interact with the dead."

She stopped struggling as stared at me in shock, "You could see her?" she breathed.

I smiled my million dollar smile, "Yeah I can. You are a mediator."

She smirked back at me, "don't confuse me with a mediator Paul. I'm a lot stronger then that. I'm a shifter."

Wow. The surprises just keep on coming…

"That would make three of us," I said.

"Three?" she asked.

"Me, you, and Suze Simon. She lives in Carmel California. I was…tutoring her I guess you could say," my eyes gleamed.

Hailey glared at me, "I'm sure you were you pervert."

I laughed.

"So what do you say that you can me go out on Friday so that you can show me some of those skills you claim you have?" I asked.

She rolled her eyes, "In your dreams."

"Hey, dreams can come true," I retorted.

She actually laughed a little bit at that one. She had a nice laugh.

"Well whether or not dreams come true I am not going out with you," she smiled.

"Date?" I gasped, "who said anything about a date? I just want to see your shifting abilities. Unless of course you actually want to go on a date. We could go back to my place…"

"No thanks."

She pulled away and this time I let her go, but I kept her within reach just in case she tried to run again… you just never know.

"So what then? We both have the same ability. Are we supposed to just act normal around each other and not try to help each other?" I asked.

I watched her as she thought about it for a few seconds. After a while she sighed and the corner of her mouth curved into a small smile.

"Alright then Slater. You win the first round. We will get together on Friday so we can figure out where we both are with this shifting business," Hailey said and she turned and prepared to go.

"Wait!" I called after her and she stopped, "Dinner. That's all I ask for. After we get together how about we just grab a bite to eat? We can even go to a public place if you are scared to be alone with me."

She paused and then continued walking, "We shall see."

Tease.


	3. Friday

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO REVIEWED! KEEP EM COMIN!

Chapter 3: Friday

Friday couldn't come fast enough. For the remainder of the week Hailey and I had acted as if nothing had happened. I would bug her, she would hurt me, it was a vicious cycle. And each time we would part I couldn't help but turn and watch her go. With Suze I would have followed her and tried to make a move on her, but with Hailey it was different. It's like I want to get to know her or something…it's a weird feeling…one that I've never really experienced before.

"Hey Paul!"

I rolled my eyes as Hannah put her hand in mine and squeezed it.

"You wanna do something tonight?" she smiled, "My parents are gone for the weekend to some meeting in New York so I have the house to myself. You could come over and we could catch up."

The way she looked at me suggested that she meant something else. A few days ago I would have jumped at the offer…but now…

Hailey walked by and glanced at my hand that was clasped in Hannah's, then she frowned and walked away.

I slipped my hand out of Hailey's, "Sorry Hannah. I can't."

I have a date with Hailey.

Well…kind of…

Hannah frowned and followed my gaze. She looked back at me with big hurt eyes.

"Hailey!" she gasped, "Do NOT tell me that you are cheating on me with that freak!"

I glared at her, "One: we are not even together so it would be impossible for me to cheat on you. Two: if you call her a freak again, you will regret it!"

She looked up at me as if I had slapped her. That wasn't the worst I could do if she said that about her. I knew a few shifting tricks that would put her in her place. My grand father had hidden a box of old manuscripts in his room that he hoped I wouldn't find. He obviously doesn't know me very well. When he had gone to the hospital for a check-up I had gone into his room and taken the box. Each of the papers had various spells on it that I had been trying to learn over the past year or so. So far I have mastered shifting from place to place, shifting objects, and traveling through time if needed. The rest of the manuscripts were so old and discolored that I had been unable to read then.

"Paul baby, you don't mean that!" Hannah exclaimed.

"Oh, but I do," I said.

Then I turned and walked away.

…………………LATER THAT NIGHT…………………

I gave myself a small spray of axe just as the doorbell rang.

"Paul!" Jack's voice echoed down the hall, "Some girl is here!"

I smiled as I entered the room to see Hailey sitting at the kitchen table, helping Jack with his English homework.

"What are you doing there bro?" I asked over her shoulder.

She jumped a bit when she heard my voice.

"Greek Mythology," he smiled, "Hailey knows a lot about it! She practically did my homework for me!"

She smiled, "But you won't be telling your teacher that will you?"

Jack smiled and shook his head.

"Sorry bud but I have to take your study buddy away now, we have work to do," I said, resting my hand on her shoulder.

"Paul." she said.

"Yes?"

"Get your hand off me, now."

Jack laughed as I removed my hand slowly.

"I like her Paul," Jack whispered to me as Hailey got up.

Ignoring him I led her down the hall to my room. Watching her reaction when I gestured for her to sit beside me on the bed I was surprised when she didn't hesitate at all. Even Suze had been hesitant the first time.

"So," I asked, "You like Greek Mythology?"

She smiled, "I guess you could say that. I studied it in my old school and I got hooked on it. But anyway, about Jack, does he have the gift as well?"

I nodded, "Yeah he does, how did you know?"

She shrugged, "Lucky guess."

"So tell me, what really happened to get you expelled at your old school? I heard that you had a freak out in the hall, but I suspect that there's something else to it"

She nodded, "I asked the teacher if I could get a drink. When I went out in the hall there was a ghost waiting for me. I had been trying to help him before but I couldn't figure out his case. Anyway, he was furious that I hadn't gotten anywhere, so he attacked me. It turned into a pretty bad fight and some teachers and students came out into the hall to investigate. I guess I didn't look to good. They must have been pretty freaked to see me punching air."

"It happens to the best of us," I said, "God knows I've been attacked a few times."

"Some ghost didn't like you digging in his business?"

"No, more like some ghost didn't like me making moves on his girl," I regretted the words the second they came out of my mouth.

"You hit on a ghost?" she laughed.

I blushed, no point in lying now, "No she wasn't a ghost. Her name was Suze Simon, the other shifter. She was in love with a ghost and I tried to get between them. It got to the point where I went back in time to keep them apart, but it ended with him coming back to life in the present time. So now she is with him."

I had never told anyone about that before, it felt good to say it out loud.

"So that's why you left Carmel?" Hailey frowned, "because you didn't get the girl?"

"Pretty much."

"Serves you right."

I looked at her in shock, she had her arms crossed over her chest and she was glaring at me, "Excuse me?" I gasped.

"You heard me Paul. After all you did to try to break them up, they deserve to be together."

I nodded, "I know that now, I just never realized that she actually loved a ghost, someone who doesn't really exist."

"He was real to her so that's all she cared about," Hailey smiled, "Its cute actually. I don't hear about love stories that turn out happy very often."

We just sat there and stared at each other for a moment. Then Hailey blushed and looked at her hands.

"So, how far have you gotten with the whole shifting thing?" she asked.

I smiled knowing that my skills would so impress her, "Well beside the basics of touching, seeing and hearing ghost I can shift from place to place, shifting objects, and I can even shift through time and the shadow world."

My smile faded when she looked at me with a bored look on her face.

"What?" I asked.

"Time travel is dangerous you know that right? It's forbidden for us to use that power unless its an emergency!" she exclaimed then her face showed understanding, "you used it to bring Suze's boyfriend back to life right?"

I nodded.

"What about you?" I asked.

"Well I can shift from place to place, I can put up barriers around me and small objects, I can shift to the shadow land, I have heard of the time travel but I have never tried it." she said.

"You can create barriers?" I breathed.

She nodded.

"How?" I asked.

"It's kind of complicated," she mumbled, "but if you really want to learn then I could probably teach you."

"That would be awesome!" I exclaimed, "and I could teach you how to shift objects."

She nodded and stuck out her hand, "so it's a deal?"

I took her small, soft hand in my large tanned one and shook it.

"Friends?" I asked her with a hopeful smile on my face.

She smirked back at me, "Partners."

Ouch.

"When do you want to start the lessons?" she asked as she got up to leave.

No! she can't leave yet! What about dinner? What about making out? What about-- oh never mind…

"Tomorrow?" I asked.

"Tomorrow is Saturday Paul, and I do have a life. How about Monday after school?"

I nodded, "Sounds good to me. So do you want to go and get something to eat? I know a great place downtown that--"

"Actually Paul, let's skip dinner ok? I'm not really hungry," she blushed slightly and I knew she was lying.

I walked up to her and smiled, "Oh come, it's one hour! What could happen? I won't bite…"

Hard……..

Ahem.

She shook her head and turned to go, but I grabbed her arm. Deciding that I was done dancing around the subject I pulled her to me and kissed her. Her lips were soft and warm. I was surprised to taste strawberry lip chap. Yummy…

She froze.

Wow, she taste's good…

At first I expected her to punch me in the jaw or slap me or something.

But no.

She had to be cruel.

Suddenly her knee came out of no where and jabbed me in my family jewels. With I high pitched gasp and fell to the floor holding my pride and joy.

"Not cool Slater."

Then she turned and left.

…oh yeah…she so wants me…


	4. Twisted

Chapter 4: Twisted

It was Sunday night. After my 'experience' with Hailey I decided to lay low for the weekend and nurse my wound. Jack was curious as to what I had learned about shifting while I was in California, so I had been telling him stories for the past two days.

"Paul!" Jack yelled from the kitchen, "Mom says that it's your turn to do the dishes!"

I rolled me eyes, "Sorry bud I can't I'm going out!"

Before he could protest I grabbed my jacket and rushed out the front door. Although it still hurt to walk somewhat, I would rather be in pain then have to clean my brother's leftovers off of a plate…

Heading toward the park again I zipped up my jacket when I felt a cool breeze hit me. I looked up and noticed that the sky was covered with dark clouds. A storm was coming.

Ignoring it, figuring I could escape the storm for at least another hour I whet and sat of a park bench. I wonder what Suze was doing right now?

Probably making out with that damn cowboy.

I smirked. I would have loved to see her face when she realized that I was gone. I hadn't told her that I was going back to Seattle. No point. It's not like she would have cared…

I was brought quickly out of my thoughts when I heard a high pitched scream coming from behind the community building in the park. It was used in the summer as a day care for parents where kids would come and do crafts or play at the park.

Thinking that maybe someone was in trouble I got up and headed over to the building. Judging by the scream it sounded like it was a girl that had screamed. Hey…maybe it's a damsel in distress who needs me to rescue her…

When I turned the corner my jaw fell open.

It was Hailey. She was lying on the ground, not moving. I could see a small pool of blood under her head and her lip looked swollen. Standing above her was a guy about my age. His jet black hair fell into his almost black eyes.

"Hey!" I yelled, "What the fuck are you doing?"

When he looked up at me I noticed the glow surrounding him. He was dead…

He smirked at me, and giving one last look to Hailey at his feet, he disappeared.

Damn, I hate it when they do hat.

Rushing over to Hailey I knelt down to check her pulse. It was stable. She must have just been knocked out.

"Hailey?" I nudged her softly.

She didn't move.

I felt my heart beat race as I began to panic. Why wasn't she waking up?

"I should call the police," I said to myself.

And say what? That a ghost attacked her? Like they would believe that…no they would pin this on me.

Deciding that they best bet was to take her back to my place I slowly picked her up. She groaned in my arms and I knew that she was in pain. I could feel the blood from her head wound slowly start to soak my jacket.

Going as fast as I could without hurting her or being seen I finally made it home.

When I entered the house Jack was sitting in the living room watching TV. When he saw Hailey lying in my arms beaten and unconscious he turned as pale as a ghost.

"What did you do Paul?" he gasped.

"I didn't do anything!" I snapped, "I found her like this in the park. A ghost attacked her. Where are mom and dad?"

"They are out on the patio. Should I go and get them?"

I shook my head, "No they wouldn't understand. Go and get a bunch of towels and the first aid kit, then meet me in my room."

Jack nodded and raced off to get the supplies while I took Hailey down the hall to my room.

Jack got back quickly and placed a few towels across my bed so there wouldn't be blood everywhere. I set her down gently.

"What are we going to do Paul?" Jack asked, his voice quivering.

"You will go to bed, it's late. And close the door on your way out."

"But-"

"Jack get out!" I exclaimed.

He groaned and left, closing the door behind him.

Taking the first aid kit I went to her side and tried to find where she was bleeding from. I found a cut behind her ear. It wasn't as deep as I thought it would be, thankfully she wouldn't need stitches. After cleaning it out and bandaging it I looked her over for other wounds. She had large bruises on her shoulders, the ass probably grabbed her and shook her. Taking some ice and a wet cloth I cleaned up her lip as well as I could.

After I was finished I sighed. Well she wasn't going anywhere tonight…

I grabbed a sleeping bag from the hall closet and a spare pillow and then set up on the floor by my bed.

I knew my parents wouldn't find out. They never checked on me anyway…

Taking off my shirt and jeans, leaving me in just my boxers I crawled under the covers and closed my eyes, sleep taking me quickly.

……………………THE NEXT DAY………………..

"Paul?" Jack whispered, "are you going to school?"

I shook my head, "I'll wait here with Hailey."

Jack nodded and left without another word.

Rolling onto my back I squinted my eyes against the morning sun that swept into my room. I looked onto my bed to find Hailey lying on her side facing me, fast asleep. Her lip was still swollen and I could see that her hair was a bit sticky where she had been cut, but other wise she was perfect.

I had had dreams of her lying in my bed…but not under these circumstances…

Shut up. I am still a teenage guy after all…

Before I could continue my…thoughts…Hailey stirred and opened her eyes. I shivered when her molten brown eyes fused with mine for what seemed like an eternity.

Then, of course, she realized who she was looking at.

She jumped up so fast that I b saw her get up. She backed away from me, holding her hand to her head. She groaned in pain and then started to fall over.

"Whoa there," I reached out and grabbed her around the waist before she could hit the floor. Out of reaction her hands went to my chest to steady herself.

I couldn't help but smirk when she realized that her hands were placed one my bare chest. Her eyes slowly worked her way down my body, and she turned crimson when she saw that I was only in boxers.

"What the fuck am I doing here Paul?" she looked back up at me, her eyes on fire.

"Maybe you should tell me Hailey. I found you getting your ass kicked by a ghost in the park last night. I was merely being a good friend and taking care of you." I stated.

If possible, she blushed even more. She struggled in my grasp and tried to back away from me.

"No way," I said as I pulled her back up against me so that my face was a few inches from Hailey's, "You aren't going anywhere until you tell me why that guy went psycho on you."

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath and I felt her relax against me.

Maybe she's giving in…

I felt her start to move her knee.

Ha, like I'd fall for that again…

Before she could kick me where it hurts I pressed her up against the wall behind her and used my weight to keep her legs from moving. Lets just say that she wasn't very happy…

"Let me the fuck go Slater!" she yelled, causing my ears to ring.

"Not until you tell me what happened between you and that guy Hailey!" I exclaimed.

"Look its nothing ok!" Hailey said.

I laughed bitterly, "Don't give me that bullshit! I have been doing this a long time Hailey and I know for a fact that the departed don't just pop up to kick a shifter's ass for no reason! You must have done something to piss him off!"

"I ran ok?" she finally burst out, tears filling her eyes, "That's why he beat me! Because I ran from him!"

I loosened my grip on her, "What do you mean?"

Her lip quivered, "When I lived in Chicago, Kevin, the guy from the park, came to me for help. Of course I said yes because it's my job to help the departed. We got close. After a few weeks he got really possessive and he would attack any guy that would get to close to me. So I broke it off."

What the hell is it with girls and falling for the dead? Is the glow truly that appealing? I just don't get it…

"The next day he showed up at my school when I was out of class. We got in a fight and he attacked me saying that he wouldn't let me break it off. That's when I was expelled. I was offered the chance to go to another high school in Chicago, but I had to get away. So I came here. I thought I had gotten away from him, but last night he found me. He told me that if I didn't go back to him, he would kill me. Then he decided to knock me around a bit to prove his point."

The tears fell out of her eyes freely now and I felt my heart twist in my chest. Her eyes shone with an emotion I had never seen from her before. Terror. She was truly afraid of this guy.

She leaned against the wall and covered her face with her hands.

"Hailey…I, I didn't know I'm sorry," I whispered.

Wrapping my arms around her I pulled her tightly up against me in a comforting hug. Lucky I did, because as soon as I did her legs caved in and she shrunk to the floor. Not wanting to let her go, I sunk down with her. Gathering her into my lap I just sat there and held her while she cried into my shoulder.

I couldn't understand it. Why did I care so much? I had never actually wanted to comfort someone so much before, not even Suze. I cared about Hailey, I truly did. For once I didn't care about what she thought of me, and I wasn't constantly trying to get her to give into me.

What was Hailey doing to me?

After she stopped crying she looked up at me, "I'm sorry. I'm so stupid…I should go…"

She started to get up but I stopped her and tilted her face to mine.

"Don't apologize, you are not stupid Hailey. I won't let this Kevin guy hurt you, I promise."

Before she could protest I pressed my lips to hers, sealing my promise. I always wondered what 'sealed with a kiss' meant, and now I know.

This time she didn't resist me. She wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me back with all she had. Running my hands though her hair, avoiding her cut, I pressed my tongue to her bottom lip softly. She opened her mouth to me and we fought for dominance. She groaned in pain when I bit her swollen lit gently, but I ignored it. I needed her, I needed this feeling. This feeling like she actually cared about me and not some one night stand like it had always been with Hannah.

Moving one hand to her waist I slipped my hand under her shirt and onto her lower back. Arching her back so she was as close as I could get her to me I moved to her neck. She gasped softly and I knew that I had found her sensitive spot.

All of a sudden she seemed to be jostled back to the real world.

"Paul," she breathed, "we have to stop. I-I s-should go."

I groaned in her neck and moved back to hers lips, claiming them before she could turn away.

Suddenly I wasn't kissing her anymore. As a matter of fact I was on the other side of my room, up against a wall.

"What the?" I gasped when I realized that I couldn't move, "Hailey what did you do?"

She was breathing rather deeply and her hand was raised in my direction.

"It's a barrier if you must know. You can guess what it's for," she smirked and then started to get up without taking her concentration off me.

She put a barrier around me?

That is so not fair…

After she had stood up and straightened herself out she walked to my door and looked back at me.

"That barrier will last a few more minutes, so don't worry," she said, "and thank you for helping me Paul."

"But why are you leaving?" I asked, desperate for her to stay, "why are you leaving me here like this? Even after all of that?"

And by that I meant the hot make out session that we were both enjoying just a few seconds ago!

She frowned, "I like you Paul. But if he ever found out…he would come after you. I have to get out of here before he comes after either of us. I don't want you to get hurt."

And then she left.

"Hailey come back!" I yelled after her.

I heard my front door slam. She was gone.

A few seconds later the barrier finally broke and I jumped up.

I had to find her. She can't leave. Not now. I cared about her too much…

I can't let her go.


	5. A Problem

Chapter 5: A Problem

Hailey wasn't at school the next day. I had rushed out the door after her but she had simply disappeared. I had even gone to the office and asked for her home number, but of course they said no.

Chris sat down in front of me and waved his hand in front of my face.

"What?" I said as I looked up at him.

"Dude where is your mind today?" he exclaimed, " you look stoned man."

Maybe that would have been the best way to deal with this…or not.

"Sorry Chris," I ran my hand through my hair, "hey man, do you know where Hailey lives?"

Chris arched his eyebrow, "Oh I see what's going on. You doin her or what?"

I clenched my fist and smirked instead of doing what I wanted to do. And at that point I felt like knocking out every perfect white tooth in his big mouth…

"Nah man, I just need to talk to her about a school project," I lied.

He shrugged, "Sorry man, I have no clue."

The tone went and everyone grabbed their bags, heading for second period. I sighed and stood up, looking over at Hailey's empty desk.

Where was she?

Did she run from Kevin again?

Or was she in some kind of trouble…

Heading to my locker I checked my watch. I had five minutes before second period started.

When I got to my locker I twisted the combination and opened my locker. When I opened my locker and looked inside, I almost screamed.

"What the fuck!" I exclaimed.

On the walls of my locker was a message:

STAY AWAY FROM HER…

It was written in red. When I touched it with my hand and brought it back to my nose to smell if a almost puked. It was blood…

But who's?

…………..THAT NIGHT………

I lay in my bed that night, wide awake, staring out my window.

I had gone home sick after the incident with my locker. My face was so pale that even the nurse believed me.

"Damnit," I growled as I got up, "where the hell is she?''

Putting on a black long sleeved shirt and dark denim jeans, I opened my window. Back in Carmel I would have just used the front door. I mean who would have stopped me? My grandfather? He was a vegetable… though Suze seemed to think differently. But back here in Seattle I would have to go by Jack's room. I couldn't risk having him catch me. He would tell our parents for sure.

I climbed out the window and jumped the few feet onto our front lawn. When I made sure that I secured the door so that it would stay open, I turned and slapped myself in the head.

"Duh Slater. Shifter you idiot!" I cursed.

Why the hell had I jumped out the window when I could have just shifted out? God, I am such an idiot…

Shrugging to myself I ran across the street to the park where I would normally run into Hailey.

It was deserted. A few stray papers blew across the open park and I shivered.

"Hailey!" I called out, cupping my hands around my mouth so I could amplify the sound.

Nothing.

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed something moving. When I turned to look, it was gone.

A shiver ran down my spine…someone was watching me.

And I had a pretty good idea who…

"Kevin you fucker!" I yelled into the darkness, "show yourself you coward!"

A cold laugh came from behind me and when I turned, there he was. He had a stupid smirk on his pale features and I could feel the power ripple off him. He may look calm, but damn was he pissed. Like a bomb ready to go off.

"You called me? What is it you needed?" he asked.

"Don't give me that bullshit! You know why I'm here! What the fuck did you do with Hailey?" I fumed, balling my fists until I could feel a small trickle of blood forming in my hands.

"Hailey?" he tapped his chin as if he was thinking, "I don't know who you are talking about."

"Bullshit! I know it was you who left the message in my locker! Hailey told me all about you, you bastard!"

He laughed again and started to play with a lighter that he pulled out of his pocket.

"Oh yes, now I remember," he smirked, "she wasn't being a very good girl, running away from me and all. I had to… re-educate her on how she is supposed to treat me. She didn't seem to be very happy when I asked her to help me with that message in your locker.."

"What are you talking about? How could she have helped you?" I asked, confused.

He looked at me and lifted an eyebrow.

Oh my fucking god…

My stomach twisted into knots.

"It was real blood," I gasped, "her blood…"

"I see that you aren't as dumb as I thought you were Slater," he laughed again, "yes, I know who you are. I know all about you. I like to make a point of knowing the people Hailey is messing around with. You are originally from Seattle but you moved to California for two years. You went there for a girl, another shifter, but when she dissed you, you ran back home like a scared cat."

"Where is Hailey?" I asked, ignoring his comments.

I had thought that this guy was just possessive, but he was way beyond that. This guy was crazy!

His thin lips twisted into a tight smile and he seemed to be looking at something behind me.

Slowly, I turned my head to see what was happening. As I was turning I felt a drop of rain fall on my cheek. Crap.

"Hailey!" I yelled when I realized that it was her who had been standing behind me.

I ran up to her and grasped her hands. They were like ice. When I looked up into her face, it was like I wasn't even looking at the Hailey I once knew. Her eyes had lost their shine and were dull and lifeless. Her hair fell limply around her face and her shoulders were slumped inwardly.

I put my hand on her cheek and tilted her face to look up at me. She seemed to look right through me.

"Hailey?" I whispered, "It's me, it's Paul"

She flinched when she heard my name and an emotion flashed though her eyes for a brief moment then it was gone. I clenched my teeth when I recognized the emotion. It was fear. She was afraid. Of what? Of me?

I turned back to Kevin. By then he had moved closer.

"What the fuck did you do to her?" I seethed.

If he had touched her…

Kevin smiled, "When I found her running down the street the other night, all she could talk about was you Paul. Well I guess I can't say talk. More like screamed. She expected you to come and save her I guess. I'm sure she must have been very disappointed when you never came…"

I clenched my fists.

"If you hurt her…"

He laughed, "She didn't get anything that she didn't deserve."

And that was when I lost it.

Before he could move I tackled Kevin to the ground. He growled out loud and tried to get me off of him, but I punched him in the jaw.

The rain started to come down harder and my wet hair started to get into my eyes. Of course Kevin's hair was dirt dry thanks to him being dead…damn him.

"Get off me Slater or I'll kill her!" Kevin yelled.

Oh yeah…that'll calm me down…idiot.

Punching him square in the nose I smirked when I heard the bone snap. Kevin yelled out in pain, though I knew that he would rejuvenate in about two minutes. Rolling off him I jumped up and hurried over to Hailey.

"Hailey," I grabbed her hand and started to pull her away from Kevin, "we have to get out of here, now!"

She looked at me and a tear slid down her cheek.

I felt my heart twist in my chest. I had let her down. Who knows what he did to her…

Gathering her into my arms, I began to carry her out of the park when there was a shimmer in front of me.

"Shit," I said as Kevin materialized in front of me, his sick smirk long gone. His teeth were gritted and his fists white from squeezing them.

"Where do you think you are going with her Slater?" he said in barley a whisper.

I gripped Hailey closer to me, "You stay away from her."

Kevin lunged at me, knocking all three of us to the ground. Hailey was thrown to the side and Kevin landed on top of me. He wasted no time and kneed me in the stomach, and punched me in the jaw. Suddenly his hands came around my neck and began to squeeze.

I gasped for air. My vision started to blur as his grip got tighter.

Killed by those I was suppose to help…ironic.

Suddenly Kevin was tackled off of me and I grasped my neck, gasping for air.

When I looked to where Kevin landed, my eyes widen to see him and Hailey rolling on the ground.

"Don't touch him!" Hailey yelled as she clawed at his face.

She placed a barrier around Kevin and threw him off her. She kept her eyes on Kevin and slowly started to get up. About half way there she groaned in pain and sunk back to the ground.

I went to her side, "Hailey are you ok?"

She shook her head, "I think my ribs are broken."

A small bead of sweat formed on her brow as she fought to keep the barrier around Kevin who was fighting to get out.

"When I get out of this," Kevin yelled, "you are dead bitch."

Hailey's eyes started to flutter a bit. I could tell she was tired.

Suddenly Kevin broke out and lunged at Hailey, knocking her to the ground. This time, she didn't have the strength to fight.

Sigh…..I have to do everything

Just kidding.

Ripping Kevin off her I grabbed him around the neck.

"I've just about enough of you, you sick fuck!" I yelled.

I with that I transported the two of us to the Shadow Land.

"Where the hell did you take me!" he yelled when we appeared in the long hallway.

I steeped back from him and waved.

"Bye fucker!" I smiled brightly.

And then I shifted back to earth, Kevin's horrified scream ringing in my ears…


	6. Healing

Chapter 6: Healing

When I shifted back to Earth I immediately was overcome with a killer headache. Of course! I do something nice, an I get a migraine in return!

I noticed that Hailey was still lying on the ground. I crawled over to her side, her eyes were closed.

The rain pelted down onto me as I slowly lifted her up, being careful of her ribs.

"Hang on Hailey," I whispered.

I started to walk when she groaned in pain.

She was more injured then I thought…

Closing my eyes and picturing my room I felt the power flow through my veins. When I opened my eyes, we were both in my room.

I lay her down on the bed carefully and rushed out to get the first aid kit.

When I came back Hailey was shaking all over. When I felt her forehead it was burning hot.

"Shit," I said to myself, "she needs to go to the hospital"

Picking her up again I shifted to the garage and lay her down in the back seat. As soon as I knew she was secured I ran around to the drivers side and got in.

Pulling out of the driveway I sped down the road to the nearest hospital.

I looked back at Hailey in the mirror. Her fists were clenched and a bead of sweat formed on her brow.

Gritting my teeth, I turned into the emergency entrance and got out of the car.

"Sir!" a nurse walked out the building exclaimed, "sir! You can't park there!"

"Shut up!" I yelled back at her, "Get me a god damn doctor! She needs help!"

The nurse's eyes widened when she noticed Hailey and she ran back into the hospital. When she returned she was followed by two men in uniforms pushing a stretcher.

As the carefully pulled Hailey out of the car, the nurse pulled me to the side.

"What happened to her?" she asked, "I need to know for medical reviews."

What was I supposed to tell her? That a ghost beat her up?

"It was a mugging," I said quickly, "I was walking through the park when I saw her being attacked. By the time I got to her, they ran away."

The nurse looked up at me skeptically. Suddenly her hand shot out and she ran her hand along my jaw. I could feel a dull pain where she touched.

"Then what happened to your jaw?" she raised an eyebrow

Shit…

"I went after the guys who…did that to her…and um…they did this," I stammered.

The nurse sighed, "I think you should come with me and wait for the police to arrive, they will want to take a report."

"You called the police?" I exclaimed.

She nodded, "when a girl shows up looking like that because of a 'mugging' it's procedure," she glared at me.

What the…

Oh my god.

Oh my fucking god.

She thinks that I did this to Hailey…

"You think that I did this to her?" I hissed at the woman.

She looked shocked at my sudden outburst, "sir, please clam down. Its just procedure."

Procedure my ass…..

Ignoring her, I went into the hospital and followed the man who was pushing Hailey down a long white hallway. He turned into the emergency room and I tried to follow but was held back by two doctors.

"Did you come in with her?" one asked.

I nodded.

"Come with me," he said and grabbed my arm, pulling me into a small room.

He nodded to a chair, and I sat down while he sat behind a desk.

"Can you tell me what happened exactly?" he asked.

I recited the same story that he had given the nurse and he sighed, writing down a few things.

"Can I use your phone?" I asked, "I should probably call my mom and tell her where I am."

The doctor nodded, "I'll be waiting outside."

As soon as he got up and left I grabbed the phone and dialed the number I had never thought I would use. I didn't call my mom….

It rang twice and I twisted the cord between my fingers impatiently.

On the third ring, someone picked up. Their voice seemed tired, like they had just woke up.

"Hello?" the voice said groggily.

"Father Dom?" I said softly, "it's me, Paul."

"Paul? What on earth happened to you? You never showed up for school. You never cancelled your attendance at the school. Where are you?"

"I'm back in Seattle father D. I had to get out of Caramel, I needed to come home. I'm not coming back," I said quickly.

"Susannah was worried you had been in some kind of accident," he said, now fully awake.

She was worried?

I smirked, good.

"How is she?"

"She is fine," father said, "why is it that you called Paul?"

"I met another shifter a while ago. Her name is Hailey."

"That's wonderful Paul!" he exclaimed. I could practically see the old man's eyes light up.

"Well we had a little trouble tonight. She had an old ghost boyfriend that has been stalking her. She moved to Seattle to get away from him, but eh found her and beat her up pretty bad. Lucky I was there. I shifted him to the shadow land and left him there-"

"Paul-"

"Yes, I know you don't like it when I don't try to 'help' them, but this guy was bad news. Anyway, I'm at the hospital right now. Father Dom, they think I did it! They think I beat her up! They have cops coming to take a statement and I don't know what to do!"

"Have you thought of telling them that it was a mugging?" Father Dom asked.

"Yeah I already told them that, but they don't believe that," I said, running my hand through my hair, "she's in surgery right now. Father Dom, I know I was never the best person back in Carmel, but, what do I do? I really need help right now…I…I'm scared father."

There was a long pause on the other line.

"You really care about this girl don't you Paul?" he asked softly.

I sighed, "Yeah, I guess I do…"

"Then stick with your story Paul. Unless you want to tell them the truth, although I think that that would only get you in even more trouble. It sounds like she needs you right now Paul. Make sure that you stay close to her. Assault can be very traumatic to most people and she will need a lot of support. That's all you can do for her right now," Father Dom said.

I nodded, "Thank you Father Dom. I really needed that. Tell Suze I said hi, and tell Rico that he better be good to her."

"Good luck to you Paul, and keep in touch."

I said good bye one last time, then I hung up.

Walking out into the hallway, the doctor was already talking to a cop. When they noticed me, I was ushered into the doctor's office again.

"I'm just going to ask you a few questions, ok?" the officer sat down across from me.

I nodded.

"How do you know the girl?"

"Her name is Hailey. We are good friends and we both go to the same school," I replied.

He asked about the incident, and I told him the mugging story and about how I got involved. After I was done the officer nodded.

"Is there anything else that you want to tell me? Like what the attackers looked like?"

I shook my head, "I'm sorry. It was too dark, I couldn't see any faces."

The officer sighed and shook his bald head.

"Can I go and see her?" I asked.

"She is through in surgery. We couldn't do much for her except bandage her ribs and give her pain killers. She is in room 37B." the doctor said.

Not bothering to say good bye, I got up and headed to her room.

When I entered the room I was hit with the smell of rain and antibiotics. Hailey was lying in the hospital bed closest to the window. She wasn't wearing one of those hospital dresses like I had expected. Instead, all that was covering her was the thick white bandages the doctors had used to brace her ribs. Her hair spilled over the pillow in dark red curls. The humidity from the rain must have made her hair curl out a bit…

I sat down on the chair beside her and took her hand in mine. It was as cold as ice. Rubbing it softly to get the blood flowing in them I watched her sleep.

After a few minutes her eyes began to flutter. When the opened she looked at her surroundings and her eyes widened. She sat up in bed in shock, but grabbed her side and gasped in pain.

"Whoa Hailey, lay down. You are way to injured to move," I put my hand son her shoulders and pushed her back into the pillows.

"What happened? Where am I?" she asked hysterically.

"You are in the hospital. I brought you here after Kevin attacked you."

She stared at me in shock as everything seemed to come to realization to her.

"What…what happened to him?" she asked, looking around the room cautiously.

I squeezed her hand, "I shifted him to the shadow land. He is never coming back."

Her eyes widened.

"You did what!" she yelled.

"Whoa! Why are you yelling at me! I got rid of him didn't I? He can't hurt you anymore!"

She shook her head and put her head in her hands, "You don't understand Paul…"

I sat on the edge of the bed and lifted her chin up so she was facing me. Tears were forming in her eyes.

"What do you mean Hailey? What's going on?" I whispered.

"When Kevin was alive, he was a mediator Paul," she said, "when he started to harass me, the first thing I did was shift him to the shadow land. But his previous mediator powers make it so the shadow land cannot hold him there. He keeps escaping and coming back, even more pissed off each time."

Oh shit…

How the hell was I supposed to know that?

"Then how do we get rid of him?" I asked.

She shrugged, "I don't know. I suspect that if he was to actually open one of the doors in shadow land, then he might disappear, but he always just gets sent directly back to earth."

"Then we may have to force him into one of those doors," I smirked.

She looked at me, "Paul you know that that would be just stupid. We don't know that we might get sucked in along with him. The only option we have is to do whatever it is he was left on earth to do."

"Do you know why he stayed on earth?" I asked.

She nodded.

"Before he died, he got in a fight with an old friend of his. His friend stole a very valuable ring from him, and then killed him before Kevin could get it back. I've tried numerous times to get the ring back, but his friend is almost never in the same place twice."

"What is he, some kind of drug dealer or something?" I asked.

She shook her head, "No. Kevin and him had worked for an underground conspiracy that stole and murdered for money. They are a hard bunch to follow."

Whoa. This time…I was in way over my head.

And I thought Carmel had been full of drama and danger…

"What do they call themselves?" I asked, "maybe we can ask around for some clues."

Hailey seemed to be thinking for a moment.

"They call themselves," she paused, "the Zodiac."


	7. Escape

Chapter 7: escape

The Zodiac.

Wow…what a lame name.

I wonder if they could tell me my horoscope…

Hahaha.

"What the hell kind of name is the Zodiac?" I smirked.

Hailey smiled too, "Actually, the main base is called the Zodiac. Its called that because it has different gang groups that are known by each zodiac name."

"So you mean that there is a group called Leo, and another group called Taurus, etc?" I said.

She nodded.

"So what gang did our good friend Kevin belong to?"

"Kevin and his friend were both a part of the Scorpio gang," she said, adjusting her pillows, "They ruled the east side of Chicago. The Zodiac have gangs situated in a few major cities."

"Do they have any in Seattle?" I asked, "that could be a chance for us to learn some stuff."

Hailey tucked a stray strand of curled hair behind her ear, "Yeah actually they do now that I think about it. The Gemini are actually situated here. I think that one of them actually goes to our school. Or at least when he wants to show up. I think you know him, his name is Chris Parker."

I choked.

"Chris Parker? As in my friend Chris Parker?" I gasped, "are you serious? He is a park of the Zodiac?"

Hailey blinked, "I forgot you were friends with him. Yeah, he's one of them, I'm sure of it. I've seen the tattoo on his chest."

Wow, Chris Parker. I never would have guess…

Wait just a second…

"When the hell did you see Chris's chest Hailey?" I arched an eyebrow, "is there something you want to tell me?"

She glared at me and punched me in the shoulder.

Ouch…she hits hard man…

"You sick jerk!" she fumed, "I have some self respect you know! If you must know, at the beginning of the year there was a pool party at some seniors house and I went and saw him there!"

I smirked… pool party… Hailey would look good in a bathing suit….all wet and…

"Hello! Paul! Are you listening? What are you thinking about?" Hailey shook me.

I looked at her, "Just some thoughts that I will keep to myself, unless you really wanna know."

She raised a delicate eyebrow, "Um, no thanks. I would rather not know what goes on in that sick mind of yours."

I grabbed my chest in mock pain ,"Ouch, my heart! You have cut me deep Hailey! Real deep!"

She rolled her eyes, " wow, normally I would try to act like I care but… I am in way too much pain!"

Smart ass…

"Should I call your mom to tell her where you are?" I asked after a while.

When Hailey looked at her hands and didn't answer, I rested my hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry Hailey, I didn't mean to upset you."

Hailey frowned and looked out the window, "My mom died when I was born and my dad left right after that. I guess he figured that I wasn't exactly worth sticking around for. I'd give you the number for my foster mother, but she is out of town with her husband anyway."

Wow, she had no one…

And here I was, taking my own family for granted.

"I'm sorry Hailey."

She shook her head and smiled, "Don't be Paul. I never knew either of my parents so I guess it's easier. Besides, with my foster parents, they don't give a shit where I am or what I'm doing so that making shifting a lot easier. I don't have to sneak out like I did with my foster parents in Chicago. Just promise me something…"

"What?" I asked.

"Your brother, Jack. He is a really great kid you know," she smiled up at me, "don't stop being a big brother to him Paul, not ever. He may be annoying as most little brothers are, but believe it or not, you being his big brother is a big deal to him."

I arched my eyebrow, "and what is so unbelievable about that?"

She smirked, "come on! You are Paul Slater. I pity the kid."

Before I could attack her, a nurse knocked on the door and entered with a tray of food.

"Excuse me sir," she smiled sweetly at me, "but visiting hours are over now, you will have to go."

I started to get up when Hailey grabbed my wrist. I turned and looked down at her, "what is it?"

Her eyes were big, "what if he comes," she whispered.

She was right. I couldn't leave her alone and defenseless in a hospital bed. Kevin could show up during the night. And seeing as the entire staff probably couldn't see him, I doubt they could protect her.

"Actually," Hailey cut through my thoughts as she talked to the nurse, "I am feeling much better. So I think that I'll just go home now."

The nurse shook her head, "I'm sorry but that is just not possible. The doctor wishes to keep you here for the night just to make sure that you are healing properly."

Hailey sighed in defeat.

I was about to protest when she cleared her throat.

"Well goodnight then sweetheart," she said to me sweetly as she opened up her arms for a hug.

Sweetheart?…

Oh! I get it!

I leaned in for a hug but instead I kissed her quickly on the lips.

"Ass," she said in my ear as she embraced me, "stand out of the way, I'll take care of the nurse."

I straightened up, "You are tired honey."

"I'm fine."

Hailey looked at the nurse and I could sense her energy building slowly inside of her.

I heard the nurse shiver beside me, "it feels kind of funny in here."

She started to move toward the window when she hit an invisible wall.

"What the," she mumbled as she backed up into another invisible wall.

She moved her hands frantically, but each time she found herself boxed in.

"Help!" she yelled, "I can't get out!"

Quickly scooping up Hailey in my arms I headed for the door.

"Stay here cookie," Hailey called after her, "we'll go and get help!"

We laughed all the way into the elevator where I put Hailey down so she could lean up against the wall. She breathed deeply and grabbed her side.

"It hurts way to much to laugh," she groaned.

Suddenly her feet gave way and she started to crumble to the ground. Reaching out I caught her around the waist before she hit the ground.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I shouldn't have used my power to put up that barrier," she said softly, "I was already weak and that took up more energy then I thought it would."

I smirked, "that's ok. I don't mind having to carry you everywhere."

She blushed slightly, "thank you Paul."

"For what?"

"For everything. For saving my life in the park. For protecting me. For staying with me just now."

"No problem," I said.

The elevator dinged and we got out, me carrying Hailey to my car that was still parked out front.

Setting her in the backseat I let her lay down so that she wouldn't have to strain her ribs. Then I got in the front, and we were off.

We arrived back at my house about twenty minutes later, and the sun had already begun to rise. No doubt that my parents would be getting ready for work in a little while.

Picking Hailey up I shifted to my room and lay her down on my bed…again. Wow, this girl sure does have bad luck…

"do you have a t-shirt or something that I could wear?" Hailey asked, looking down at her bandaged chest.

Damn…

Sighing, I went into my dresser and pulled out a old blue shirt. I threw it at her and she put it on, gritting her teeth from the pain in her ribs.

"Do you want an Advil or something?" I asked.

She shook her head, "the hospital drugged me up pretty good. I just need sleep. By morning I'll be good as new, shifters seem to heal fast."

I smirked.

Taking off my shirt I climbed over Hailey and crawled under the covers beside her.

"What the fuck do you think you are doing?" she hissed at me.

"Trying to sleep," I said.

She flicked my forehead, "Not here you're not. Get on the floor."

I shook my head, "can't the housekeeper took the sleeping bags to the dry cleaners this afternoon. They won't be back until tomorrow. You can't expect me to sleep on the floor with no blankets can you?"

She sighed heavily, "fine. You win this time Slater, but no funny business."

"Wouldn't dream of it," I replied smugly.

Ok…maybe I would dream of it… a little.

…………………………..THE NEXT DAY……………………………

I opened my eyes slowly and check my watch, 3 o'clock in the afternoon. Wow why had I slept so…

I almost jumped when I heard someone sigh beside me. When I looked, I noticed Hailey nestled into my bare chest.

Noticing our position, I found my arms had found their way around her waist.

…lecherous hands…shame on them….

Ahem.

Hailey's weren't exactly keeping to themselves either. One of her delicate hands was resting on my chest while the other was around my neck and curled into my hair.

I watched her sleep. Her breathing was finally even and calm again, and I noticed that she was sleeping on her side. She really did heal fast.

Wait…if she wakes up and sees me this close…she is so gonna kick my ass…

Unless…

Unless she wakes up first…

Muhahahaha.

Closing my eyes and pulling her a little bit closer, I pretended to be asleep.

Sure enough, a few minutes later I heard a sharp intake of breath when she realized who's chest she was up close and personal with. I felt her shift uncomfortably as she slowly tried to remove her hands from my hair without 'waking' me.

I opened my eyes slowly and was met with deep brown orbs.

"I see you couldn't keep your hands off hey Hailey?" I whispered smugly.

She glared at me, "this coming from the guy who has his arms permanently wrapped around my waist!"

I smirked, "general male reaction. I thought girls would have more self control."

She used both of her hands to push at my chest to try to get me away from her. Instead of letting go I brought her closer.

"You know what?" I kissed her hair, "I think I like it right here thank you very much."

She groaned in annoyance.

"We should get up Paul," she said into my chest, "what day is it anyway?"

It was my turn to groan, "Tuesday. I suspect that the school has already called looking for us."

Hailey rolled out of bed and I followed. She stretched and then cautiously looked out into the hallway.

"Is anyone home?" she asked me.

"Just me," a small voice said.

We both jumped about a foot when Jack appeared from the shadows.

"Why aren't you at school Jack?" Hailey asked.

He shrugged, "I don't feel good. Where were you last night Paul? I went to check on you but you were gone. Then I heard you shift back into your room this morning. What did you do to Hailey? She looked pretty beat up last night. If you hit her I am so gonna kick your ass Paul."

Hailey laughed softly as Jack balled his hands into fists.

"I didn't do anything!" I exclaimed, "she had a run in with a ghost who doesn't like her much. Last night I took her to the hospital just to make sure she was ok."

Jack took a deep breath and relaxed. Hailey went and took his hand in hers. Jack blushed.

"Can you show me where your mom keeps her clothes?" she asked, "I'll need to borrow some, the hospital still has mine."

Jack nodded and led her down the hall to the master bedroom.


	8. Interrogation

Chapter 8: interrogation

Hailey emerged from the bedroom a few minutes later wearing my mom's casual skirt and a plain white t shirt.

"You look nice," I smiled.

She rolled her eyes.

"We should get going," she said, "we should stop at my house first, then we can go and find Chris."

I nodded. Saying good bye to Jack Hailey and I got into my car and pulled out of the driveway.

"Where do you live?" I asked.

"Over on Maple crescent," she pointed across the park.

"Your foster parents are pretty well off then I guess."

She shrugged, "I guess so."

Once I turned onto Maple she pointed to a white house. I pulled into the driveway and got out. Hailey pulled a house key from under the welcome mat and opened the door.

Original…

She walked down a long staircase into what I assumed to be the basement. It was rather dark and I had to follow close to Hailey so that I wouldn't bump into anything. She stopped in front of a door and walked in. when she flicked on the lights I saw that we were in her room.

There was a small window at the top corner of her room, and the walls were painted a dark purple. About six bubble lamps hung from the ceiling and they lit the room with a dull light. In the right corner was a double bed with a lighter purple bed spread. There was a desk across from the bed with a laptop on it. The walls were littered with posters of bands and pictures of people that Paul didn't recognize. On one wall was a huge shelf full of CDs and DVDs.

"Nice room," I said.

"Thanks," she smiled, "now get out I have to change."

I could help…

She seemed to read the smirk on my face because she threw a pillow at my and shoved me out the door.

Hailey was quite fast. She came out wearing light denim jeans that were ripped at the knees and on the thigh on her left leg. A red studded belt was around her waist. She was wearing a white muscle shit with the words 'heartbreaker' in red across her chest. Her hair was up in a ponytail and it was still a little curled from the rain last night.

"Here are you mom's clothes," she handed me them, neatly folded.

I nodded.

She looked hot…

"Earth to Paul, we can go now," she waved a hand in my face.

Grabbing her wrist a pulled her toward me.

"Paul-"

I cut her off by pressing my lips to hers. She squeaked in surprise and elbowed me in the gut.

I let her go immediately and grabbed my stomach.

"Damn it Hailey," I coughed, "what the hell was that for?"

"Stop messing around Paul, lets go."

She didn't wait for me to answer, she just turned and walked up the stairs. I followed a few seconds after I was able to catch my breath.

It seems that each time I try to get close to her, I end up getting hurt. You think I would learn…

But when the hell have I been one to listen to reason huh?

Getting back into the car, Hailey popped in an evanescence CD that she pulled from her black book bag. 'Missing' started to blare through the car.

"You like this?" I asked, wrinkling my nose slightly.

Amy Lee is good but the lyrics are kind of depressing.

Hailey shot my one of the coldest glares I have ever seen, "You diss her, and I promise you that you will never reproduce, ever. Evanescence is my hero. Besides its probably better then what you would listen to."

"And how do you know what I listen to?" I asked.

"Let me guess, would 50 cent be one of them?" she smirked.

…………….she's good.

"How did you know?"

She laughed, "Because the only thing that that idiot sings about is getting some girl."

"So you immediately related him to me?" I exclaimed, shocked.

"Yeah pretty much."

Ouch.

My heart…

Am I that obvious?

Ignoring her I turned up the music louder and continued to drive. Hailey sang along with the music and I noticed that her voice actually wasn't half bad. Well from what I could hear over the music anyway…

Pulling into the school parking lot I turned off the music and hopped out of the car, Hailey following.

"Would Chris even show up for school?" she mumbled.

I shrugged, "we might as well start here. If he's not here then we can check at his house. He should be here though, cheerleading finals are today and I know he wouldn't want to miss that."

Hailey gagged, "men."

I sniggered.

Walking into the school I spotted Chris almost immediately. He was trying to hide behind a locker door while he was making out with some red head. I don't understand why people do this. The locker door is like six inches wide! There is no way in hell that two people could hide behind that I mean come on!

Walking up to him I was about to tap him when Hailey nudged me.

"Shouldn't we wait?" asked quietly.

"Do you want to question them, or join them?" I asked.

Please say join them, please say join them…

"Chris!" she called out.

Damn it!

Chris jumped about a foot and jumped away from the girl who I recognized from my algebra class.

"Hey Paul my man," Chris smirked when he saw me, "where you been?"

"Around," I said, "can we talk to you for a minute man?"

"We?" Chris looked over my shoulder to where Hailey was leaning up against the locker, "you with her or something? Is that why you been missing?"

Hailey fumed while I just smirked.

"Come on man," I asked.

He nodded and just walked away from the girl. The red head frowned and her cheeks flushed. I could tell that she was begging to regret making out with Chris. She probably thought that he actually liked her, but Chris was never serious about any girl. For Chris it was just some game, a game I use to take part in…

Lading Chris outside to the parking lot the three of us stood by a wall that was covered in graffiti, Chris leaned against it.

"What's up man?" he asked me.

"We want to talk to you about the Zodiac," Hailey cut in.

Way to be subtle Hailey…

Chris's eyes got wide, "what the fuck do you know about that bitch?"

Hailey balled her fists and took a step toward him, "I know more then you could wrap your dumb ass mind around ass hole."

Chris took a threatening step toward Hailey, but she stood her ground. I put my arm in between then and pulled Hailey back.

"Come on you two. Chris we just wanna ask you a few questions about a guy who was killed in Chicago," I said.

"Why the hell would I know about some guy from Chicago?" Chris asked.

"Because we have reason to believe that he came here and joined the Gemini," Hailey said, "he was part of the Scorpio for a while. Him and another guy got in a fight over some ring and now one guy is dead."

Chris eyed Hailey up and down, "How do you know all this? You part of the system or what?"

Hailey laughed, "No. let's just say that I have a direct contact that told me that the guy who killed Kevin has now transferred into your territory."

"What makes you think I'll help you?" Chris asked.

I could feel Hailey's power begin to build.

"What are you doing?" I whispered in her ear.

She ignored me and concentrated on Chris. Suddenly he was thrust up hard against the wall he was leaning on by an invisible force. He cried out and tried to escape, but Hailey held on.

"Tell me about the guy and I'll let you go," Hailey hissed.

Whoa, this was not good. We so do not need anyone knowing about our powers right now.

"Hailey stop it!" I grabbed her arm and her concentration broke.

Chris took the chance and ran away as fast as he could. When he was long gone Hailey turned to me, her eyes on fire.

"Why the hell did you do that Paul?" she yelled.

"You can't use your powers like that! He could tell anyone now!" I yelled back.

"Who would believe him Paul?"

Hmm… that's a good point.

But still!

"You don't have to beat him down o get answers, and besides, I could have done that!" I yelled.

"Look I'm sorry but he knows about the guy I can feel it!"

"We'll figure this out, just give it time," I said.

Hailey sighed and slumped to the ground and leaned against the wall, "You don't get it Paul. Kevin has been after me for years now. The sooner I get that ring back, the sooner he disappears, and the sooner I can go back to feeling like I don't have to constantly watch my back!"

I sat next to her on the ground and put my arm around her shoulders.

"I'm sorry ok?" I said, "you are still worn out from your injury and I don't want you over doing it with the power ok?"

"Stop acting like my mother Paul."

I chuckled, "hey, you said you were going to teach me how to do that. When can I expect my lesson?"

She sighed, "I am so gonna regret agreeing to this. How about tonight? I have a feeling that Kevin will reappear soon and we should be ready. My foster parents still aren't home so we can do it at my house."

Sure, we can…do it…anywhere she wants…

Ahem..

I smiled, "Alright, tonight at your place. It's a date."

She rolled her eyes, "that would be wishful thinking Slater."

I shrugged my shoulders. I'll win eventually, I always do…


	9. The Truth

Chapter 9: the truth

I went over to Hailey's house that night around seven. I had told my parents that it was for a school project, but I think Jack saw right through my lie.

"Hey," Hailey said as she opened the door, "lets get started shall we?"

"Let's."

We went down into the basement where there was a large den. It was dimly lit with about two dozen candles.

"Romantic," I smirked.

"Shut up Slater," she glared, "electric lights are to bright and distracting. Candles have been used in training sessions for shifters for centuries. I guess I'm just old fashioned."

"How did you know about the candle thing?" I asked, curious.

"Back in Chicago I found an old document that taught me how to put up barriers by Dr. Salaski. But when I moved here I left it there by mistake."

"Did you say Dr. Salaski?" I asked.

"Yeah why?"

Wow, my grandfather sure got around. If there was documents in Chicago, who knew how many more were out there.

"He is my grandfather, my father's real last name is Salaski. He changed it when society started to call my grandfather crazy. I still have most of his other documents."

Hailey's eyes lit up, "That's incredible! He is such a brilliant man, I would love to meet him some day."

"Right now he's back in Carmel living like a vegetable. He doesn't talk much."

Except to Suze it would appear…but that's different.

"I'm sorry Paul, it must be hard to see him like that."

I shrugged, "we were never really all that close. I guess you could say he doesn't exactly agree with some of the things I do."

"Who does?" Hailey smirked.

I sat on the couch beside her, "Lets get back to lessons shall we?"

She nodded, "to get this to work you have to clear your mind completely."

She pulled a pencil out from behind her ear and placed it on the table in front of us.

"Once your mind is clear, I want you to focus not on the pencil, but the air around it. Concentrate on getting it to thicken into an invisible wall around it. You won't be able to see it, but you should be able to feel it working."

I nodded. Concentrating as hard as I could, I pushed all of my other thoughts into the back of my mind. I could begin to feel my power build. I released the power slowly and the pencil lifted off the table.

"Stop Paul," Hailey set her hand on my shoulder, "you are concentrating on the pencil. Concentrate on the air. Do it again."

I must have tried it at least a dozen times, and each time all I managed to do was lift the pencil. Leaning back in the couch I took deep breaths. I felt a little bit drained.

Hailey leaned over the arm of the couch and opened a cooler. She pulled out two cokes and handed one to me.

"Here, this should help get your energy back."

I nodded, "how about I teach you how to lift a pencil then?" I asked.

She nodded, " I think I get how to do it. I have to concentrate on the object, not the air right?"

I nodded, "concentrate on every molecule of the pencil and imagine lifting it, and it will."

Hailey set her pop on the table and took a deep breath. She looked at the pencil and I could feel her power rise. When she released it, nothing happened. I stuck out my hand and hit the air around it to find a barrier.

"You are to use to concentrating on the air, try the pencil again." I said.

She nodded and tried again. This time she actually made the pencil move a little.

"Good," I said, "now lift it."

Her eyebrows furrowed in concentration as the pencil shook a bit and then slowly started to lift. I looked at Hailey to see a huge smile on her face as she watched the pencil rise. She let the pencil drop and looked at me, "I did it!"

"That was pretty good but don't forget that its just a pencil, larger objects will be harder," I said.

She rolled her eyes, "your turn."

Putting down my pop I sighed and concentrated. I sat there for a few seconds.

Nothing is happening…

Hailey stuck out her hand and tapped the air around the pencil. Her hand hit solid air.

"Good job Paul," she smiled, "I think that's enough for today."

Suddenly there was a crash from upstairs that caused us both to jump. I could here at least four pairs of feet running toward the stairs.

"Who is that?" I asked softly as we both slowly got up.

Hailey shrugged, "I'm not sure, but I have a feeling that they know your friend Chris."

Pulling Hailey behind me I watched as four guys in black masks came down the stairs. On the forehead of the mask was a symbol.

"They are the Gemini," Hailey whispered into my ear, "the symbol on their head stands for Gemini."

I nodded.

When they noticed us they slowly started to approach.

"What do you want?" I asked.

On guy who was rather largely built stepped forward, "we understand that you were asking questions that you shouldn't be asking."

That's a mouth full…

"What, you guys got something to hide?" I spat back, "we just want to talk to the guy who transferred from Chicago."

A guy in the back stepped foreword, "I'm him. What do you want?"

Hailey stepped out from behind me, "You were a part of the Scorpio back in Chicago. Your friend was in with you and you killed him. You have ring of his that I need."

The guy smirked, "and how did you know about that baby?"

I could sense her fuming beside me.

"I have my sources."

"We talked to Chris. He came to us telling us that you guys had some freaky powers," the large built guy said.

The guy from Chicago took a step back, "powers?" he seemed nervous, "you are one of them aren't you?"

Oh shit.

"One of what?" Hailey asked.

"A mediator. Kevin claimed he was one, said he could talk to the dead and shit like that. That guy was a freak and deserved to die."

"That's why you killed him?" Hailey asked, "because he was a mediator?"

The guy smirked, "my kid sister was one of them too. Ruined her life. She was always afraid of the dead. She was so afraid of them that she killed herself when she was fifteen. Then you crack heads started popping up at my door, wanting to know what it was that made her stay on earth. You are nothing but pains in the ass that stick your noses where they don't belong. So yeah, I guess you could say I killed Kevin because he was one of them. Just like I am gonna kill you freaks."

With that they all charged into the den, but they ran into an invisible wall. I looked over at Hailey to see her hands up as she concentrated.

"Shift out of here Paul!" she gasped.

"Not without you," I said.

"I can't shift without letting the barrier go!"

"Then let it go, I have you covered!"

Hailey released the barrier and all four men dove at us. Hailey screamed. I wrapped my arms around her and imagined her driveway.

There was a moment of absolute silence and then all I heard were birds and Hailey breathing heavily.

"Thanks," she said into my chest.

"No problem."

I looked around for my car and saw it parked where I had left it.

"Oh my fucking god my car!" I exclaimed.

All of the windows were broken and the roof to the car was caved in. I noticed that they had slit all of the tries as well.

"Hey over there!" I heard a voice yell.

When I looked I noticed three other guys wearing masks across the street. When they saw us the began to run toward us. The front door to Hailey's house burst open and the four guys ran at us as well.

"Come on!" I exclaimed, "give me a break here!"

This time Hailey grabbed onto me and shifted us to my house.

"Wow that was unexpected," I said.

"They will come here to Paul, if they haven't already. We have to get your family out of there." Hailey said as she ran to the door.

We ran inside to find everyone sitting at the kitchen table, eating desert.

"Mr. Slater, Mrs. Slater, Jack, my name is Hailey and you all have to get out of here," she said quickly.

Everyone looked at me with questionable expressions on their faces.

"Paul, honey, what did you do?" my mom asked.

"Nothing," I said, "but I think we should go on a holiday!"

"You still have school son," my dad said.

My heart stopped when I heard the squeal of tires in the driveway. I looked at Hailey.

"I'll keep them from getting in," she said, "but get them out!"

Jack came up to me and said under his breath, "does this have to do with our…powers?"

that's when it really hit me. They were trying to kill us. Actually kill us. Because we had some dumb powers. And that meant that they would kill Jack to.

Over my dead body…

"Yes Jack," I said softly.

I looked at my parents.

Oh boy…

Judgment time…

"Mom, dad, this is going to sound unbelievable but. I can see and speak to the dead, and so can Jack. And there are people outside who want to kill us and they will probably kill you to if we don't get out of here now!"

They just stared at me.

Say something damn it!

"Your grandfather use to claim the same thing," my father said.

"And he's telling the truth dad! He's not crazy and neither am I! I'll prove it!" I yelled.

Concentrating on the vase on the table I lifted it and threw it at the wall. It shattered into a million pieces. My mom screamed.

"Paul that was your mothers favorite vase!" my father got up from the table.

"Do you believe me now!"

They seemed to be pondering it.

"How did this happen? Why didn't you tell us?" my mother asked, "all this time. When Jack claimed to see the dead, you said nothing! You agreed that he was lying!"

"That's not important right now!" I yelled.

Walking up to my mom I hugged her tightly and shifted to the school yard at my high school. When I shifted my mom started screaming.

"Stay here I have to get the others," I said.

Shifting back I grabbed Jack and shifted back to my mom.

When I went back to get my dad I had to hold onto the table to stay upright. I used way to much power, but I had to get my dad out. Hugging my dad, who was still yelling, asking me where I went, I shifted to the school yard.

"Time to explain son," my father said.

"I …have…to…get…Hailey," I forced out with great difficulty.

"You are to tired Paul!" Jack exclaimed, "you won't have enough power!"

"I'm not leaving her."

Gathering all the power I could I shifted one last time to my house.

"Hailey!" I called out.

There was a large crash as Hailey ran into the kitchen, breathing hard as well.

"Where is everyone?" she asked.

"I shifted them to the school. Come on," I held out my arms to her and she embraced me.

When I tried to use my power to shift, nothing happened.

"What's wrong?" Hailey asked.

"I used to much power, I can't do it!" I said.

Hailey closed her eyes and tried. It didn't work either.

"I used up to much power to!"

"We have to get to my room and hide," I said.

We went as fast as we could to my room and locked the door. Through it I could hear the Gemini turning table and breaking things, looking for us.

I sat in the corner and Hailey sat beside me, we waited to for them to find us.

"I'm not giving up yet," Hailey whispered.

She looked at me, her eyes were filled with fear and determination.

"Shift," she said.

"I can't!"

"Just do it! We'll combine our power!" she exclaimed.

And with that she pressed her lips to mine. I could feel her power run through me like a wave and so I concentrated on the school.

Suddenly there was silence, and when I opened my eyes, we were lying on the pavement, Hailey's lips still on mine.

And then all I saw was black.


	10. Reinforcements

Chapter 10: reinforcements

I opened my eyes slowly to see someone leaning over me. When my eyes focused I say that it was Hailey, her eyes were wide with worry.

"He's awake," she called out.

A could hear more footsteps as my family crowded around me.

"What happened?" I asked.

"You used to much power and so you passed out," Jack explained.

"What about you Hailey? Are you ok?" I asked.

She smiled down at me, "Yeah, I'm fine. All I got was dizzy and a really bad headache."

I looked around me and noticed that I was lying on a bed.

"Where are we?"

My mom came and put a cold cloth on my head, "we are at a hotel honey. Hailey told us that it wouldn't be safe to go home right now."

I nodded.

I heard Jack yawn.

"Come on honey," my mom said, "it's time for bed."

Everyone left until it was just me and Hailey.

"What time is it?"

"It's two in the morning," she said, "you were out for quite a while. I was worried for a minute there that I would be mediating you next."

I smiled, "you were worried about me?"

She blushed slightly.

"What are we going to do about the Gemini?" I asked, changing the subject.

She sighed, "Well, we won't be able to go back home any time soon…Paul, I-"

She stopped and I noticed that a tear ran down her face.

"Hailey? What's wrong?" I asked, taking her hand in mine.

"I'm so sorry Paul," she whispered, "this is all my fault! I never should have gotten you involved. Now your parents know about us, and I don't know if you will ever be able to stay here. I should have just kept on running."

"Hey," I said, "don't say that! My parents were bound to find out eventually, and besides, I hated keeping it from them anyway. And I don't care if I have to move again. I hate Seattle anyway, its way to big. And don't think for one minute that any of this is your fault ok? You have no idea how glad I am that I met you Hailey."

She stopped crying and hugged me, "thank you Paul," she whispered into my ear.

Wrapping my arms around her waist I returned the hug, "no, thank you."

She released me and wiped her eyes, "you should get some rest. I'll se you in the morning."

And with that she crawled into the bed at the other end of the room and went to sleep.

………………THE NEXT DAY…………….

Hailey woke me up around noon the next day. I stretched and got out of bed, feeling one hundred percent better.

We all ordered room service and ate in the room in silence.

"So," I broke the silence, "I suspect that you two have a lot of questions."

My dad sighed and put down his coffee, "yes I suppose there is a lot we have to talk about."

"How is it that you came to know my son Hailey?" my mom asked.

"Well, I transferred to Seattle two years ago because of a ghost that I had trouble with. I won't go into to much detail, but the ghost is pretty much the reason why any of this is happening. I met Paul at school and he caught me mediating a ghost. So that's how he found out that I was a shifter and-"

"A shifter?" my father asked," I thought you said that you were mediators?"

"Well there are two types of mediators dad," I said, "Jack is just a regular mediator. He can only see, speak and associate with the dead. Shifters have powers that go beyond all that. We can shift from place to place as you saw yesterday, we can levitate objects, put up barriers, and even travel into the Shadow Land, which is a place where the souls of the dead travel when they move on."

My parents looked awestruck.

"Don't forget time travel Paul," Hailey smirked.

Damn…I was hoping to leave that one out.

"What does she mean by time travel?" my dad asked.

"Um, well. Shifters can also travel back in time to change things. It's very risky though," I said.

"Have you ever done it Paul?" Jack asked.

I nodded, "once. When I was living in Carmel. But I would rather not go into detail."

"We'll talk about that later," my father growled.

Shit.

"So who are those people that are trying to kill you?" my mom asked.

And so Hailey and I spent about ten minutes explaining everything about the Zodiac and yada yada yada.

"What are we going to do?" Jack asked, sitting closer to mom.

Hailey sighed, "I don't know. Me and Paul are pretty strong but it will still be hard to get the ring and get out without overusing our powers or getting killed."

I sighed…

I didn't want to do this…

I shouldn't have to do this…

But what other choice did I have?

We needed help…

And they were the only ones who may be willing enough.

"I think I know some people who can help," I said, "dad, can I use your phone and some money?"

……………………THE AIRPORT……………….

Hailey and I sat in the air port, waiting for the plane to arrive.

"Are you sure they will help us?" she asked.

"Nope, not really. I can' imagine why they would want to."

The doors to the plane entrance opened and people started to pile out. One of the last people off was the one I had been waiting for. Her brown curly hair was up in a messy bun and her green eyes spotted me.

"Slater," she greeted as she came up to us.

"Suze, thanks for coming," I said.

Suze looked over at Hailey and smiled, "Hi, I'm Suze Simon. You must be Hailey?"

Hailey nodded, "Thank you for coming Suze, it means so much to me. Where is this Jesse guy I heard so much about?"

Suze smiled, "Behind you with our bags."

I turned around to see Rico Suave himself. He pulled two suitcases behind him as he smiled at Suze.

"Slater," he shook my hand.

"DeSilva," I said and shook his back.

"Wow, tense much, "Hailey pointed out.

Suze laughed, "I like her. Are you a shifter to?"

Hailey nodded, "What about Jesse?"

"I am actually just a normal mediator. I'm sure Paul told you, but I was a ghost before and"

"Can it cowboy, the taxi is waiting," I huffed and headed for the door.

Hailey and Suze walked behind us, talking about random girl stuff.

Women.

We all piled into the taxi, Jesse sat in the front while Hailey sat in the middle and Suze and I sat on either side of her.

It was weird, having Suze back. But this time, it was different when I saw her. I didn't those butterflies in my stomach anymore and …I just…didn't feel that way for her anymore.

But when I was with Hailey, it was like when I was with Suze, except different. I wasn't constantly fighting to get her attention, with Hailey, it was like I actually wanted to get to know her. Not manipulate her so I could get my way.

I watched Hailey and Suze blab on and on about something stupid…shoes probably.

"Sorry to cut in ladies," I cleared my throat, "but Suze, Jesse, would you like to know why I called you two here anyway?"

"I would love to know," Jesse mumbled from the backseat.

Ass.

So Hailey and I spent the rest of the car ride to the hotel telling them about everything that was going on. The taxi driver seemed interested but when he asked I just said that we were planning on making a movie.

When we arrived at the hotel, Hailey and Suze were talking about shifting.

Better than shoes…

"You mean that we can put up barriers?" Suze gasped.

"Yup," Hailey smiled, "I'll show you."

Suddenly I found myself running into an invisible wall.

"Hailey!" I exclaimed.

When I turned around to face her I ran into another wall. She had put me in a very small box.

Suze clapped her hands and whistled, "You have got to show me how to do that!"

Hailey laughed and released her concentration. As soon as the walls were down I charged at her, grabbing her around the waist. She screamed as I lifted her over my shoulder and patted her but.

"Put me down Slater!" she yelled.

"Make me," I smirked.

Hailey growled and kicked me in the gut, causing us both to fall to the ground. I lay on top of Hailey, groaning in pain.

"Damn, why do you always have to hurt me?" I gasped.

"Because you keep giving me no choice, now get off me!" she laughed.

Ten minutes later, after everyone was unpacked an comfortable we all sat in the hotel room discussing a plan.

"Nice hotel Paul," Suze smirked, "You know, normal people who are trying to hide out would be hiding in a motel, not a five star hotel."

I smirked, "And that is probably exactly where the Gemini will look first, in motels."

Hailey shook her head, "They aren't that stupid Paul. They know your family has money and hotels are probably the first place they'd look. I wouldn't be surprised if they already know where we are."

Jesse looked a little bit alarmed, "Should we not leave then? What if they were to attack now?"

Hailey smiled comfortingly, "don't worry Jesse, they wouldn't dare do anything in broad daylight."

"They attacked us at your house in daylight," I mumbled.

She nodded, "But then we weren't aware and they thought they could take us by surprise and finish us off quickly. Now that we know what to look out for, they will probably need more time to plan."

Everyone seemed to nod in agreement.

Suze's face suddenly lit up, "Jack!"

I turned and saw Suze grab Jack up into a bear hug the second he and my parents walked through the door.

"Oh look honey!" my mom exclaimed, "it's the baby sitter from Carmel!"

I smirked…good times.

My father looked over at me, "is she like you and Hailey?"

I nodded and Suze glared at me, "You told them!"

She walked up to me and pointed a finger in my face, "You had no right to tell them about me!"

"I had no choice Suze! They kind of had question when I shifted them out of our house during the attack!"

She sighed and closed her eyes, I could tell she was counting to ten, "how much did you tell them?"

"Paul," my father asked pointing to Jesse, "is that the dead cowboy that you brought back to life?"

Suze's face turned about ten different shades of red as her anger began to build.

"You…told them…about…Jesse?" she fumed.

"It's Hailey's fault!" I pointed to her sitting in the couch.

Suze looked at her, "is this true?"

Hailey nodded," I'm sorry Suze I didn't think it would end up being about Jesse. When Paul told his parents they wanted to know about our powers and I mentioned time travel. They asked is Paul had ever done it, he said yes, and so he had to explain why. And, well, I think you can figure out the rest.

Jesse looked amazed, "She talks fast then Susannah!"

Everyone laughed at that one, except Hailey who just blushed.

As we laughed, there was a knock at the door. Eager to get away from the laughter, Hailey jumped up to get it.

"Who is it?" she asked through the door.

"Room service," the voice said, "I have brought up fresh towels."

Hailey looked through the peek hole and back away from the door.

"What is it Hailey?" my mom asked.

"It's not room service I can tell you that much," she whispered.


	11. The Ring

Chapter 11: The Ring

"Paul, get your family out of here." Hailey said.

I quickly got up and led them to the other room that was attached to ours.

"Paul!" Jack exclaimed, "let me help! You won't have enough power left of you shift us all out of here!"

I shook my head, "I don't want you getting hurt. Hey De Silva!" I called.

He came into the room, "What is it?"

"Stay with them and help them," I said, "when the Gemini get in I want you to go out the door and get out."

"I must stay here and protect Susannah," he said.

"I know that but what can you do?" I said, "you don't have the power to protect yourself from guns Jesse. You are just a mediator. And besides if you got hurt, that would kill Suze. It would be better for the both of you if you went."

Jesse walked up to me, "I understand. But promise me Paul, promise me that you will protect Susannah."

I nodded, "I promise."

Leaving them to wait until it was safe, I went back to where Suze and Hailey were watching the door as the Gemini pounded on it to get in.

"Where's Jesse?" Suze asked.

"If he fights with us then he will just get hurt. I sent him to protect Jack and my parents," I said.

Suze nodded.

Suddenly the banging on the door stopped and the knob began to turn.

"Get ready Hailey," I said softly.

She nodded.

Suddenly there was a large crack and the door burst open, and five men rushed in.

Hailey's hands came out and a barrier went around the three of us.

"Cool…" Suze whispered.

"Suze, you know what to do," I said.

We both used our power to lift the couch and some chairs and hurled them at the Gemini. A few of them were knocked down by the couch.

One of the men pulled out his gun and began to shoot at the barrier. Suze screamed and her concentration broke, causing a chair to fall back to the floor.

When she noticed that the bullets were just hitting the shield she blushed and straightened up.

"She's the one controlling the shield," one man said, pointing to Hailey.

I gasped when I could suddenly feel another power source enter the room. It was a man. He looked to be in his mid twenties and was at least a few inches taller then me. His shaggy blonde hair fell into his almost black looking eyes. He held out his hand at Hailey and I noticed that on his finger was a ring. Beside him was another person, but this one seemed to glow.

It was Kevin.

"Hailey," I whispered, "is that the ring?"

She nodded, "I don't understand. Kevin is right there, why doesn't he take the ring back?"

"Maybe that's not why he was left here in the first place. I think he was lying to you from the beginning."

The man with the blonde hair walked up to Hailey's shield. Smirking wickedly at Hailey he took a step foreword.

And then he walked right through it.

Hailey stood utterly shocked at the man who had walked right through her shield. He stood in front of her and smiled.

"Hailey I presume," he said.

Suddenly his hand shot out and wrapped around Hailey's throat. She instantly dropped the shield and tried to get the man to let go.

"Let her go you bastard!" I yelled as I sent a chair flying at him.

He waved his other hand and knocked the chair out of the air.

Before Paul could charge at him, two pairs of arms grabbed his arms and forced him back. Two other men grabbed Suze so that she couldn't move.

The man who had Hailey around the neck spun her around so that she was facing the room. He still held onto her and Hailey fought to get away. Her eyes grew wide with fear as she looked at me.

I struggled, I hated seeing her like this. I hated seeing her in danger when I couldn't help her, when I couldn't hold her and tell her that everything was ok…

"Three shifters," he said softly, "there were two others, where are they?"

I glared at him. He was looking for Jack and Jesse as well.

"Fine, I figured you wouldn't answer me anyway," he smirked.

Kevin floated up to me and smiled, "you tried to get rid of me in the Shadow Land."

I smirked and nodded. Kevin frowned and punched me in the gut, sending me to my knees in pain.

God dammit!

….ow

Hailey winced from the painful grip that the guy had on her and I could feel myself getting madder.

Suddenly Hailey gasped and put up a shield around the man, forcing him away from her.

Her tried to walk through it but hit the wall.

He smirked, "clever girl," he said.

His eyes seemed to dilate with power for a moment and suddenly he disappeared.

"What the…" Hailey whispered in confusion, "how did he…"

"Hailey!" Suze yelled, "Behind you!"

Hailey turned around and came face to face with black eyes. The man raised his hand and backhanded Hailey across the face. She went flying to the floor at his feet and then she stopped moving.

"You bastard!" I yelled and fought to get away from the Gemini's grip, but they just threw me back up against the wall.

The man turned and looked at me, "You must be Paul Slater. I have heard so much about you. You lived in Seattle most of your life, then moved to Carmel for two years. And you must be Susannah Simon," he looked at Suze.

She glared at him.

"Quite the mess Slater has gotten you into hmm?" he smiled.

"Who are you?" Suze hissed, "what do you want with us?"

The man smiled again, "My name is Dimitri. And I am here to get rid of all you abominations."

"But you are one of us," I said.

He stopped smiling and glared at me, "That is where you are wrong Slater. I am not a shifter or a mediator."

I gasped, "the ring."

He nodded, "Yes, the ring has given me all of my powers, even my ability to see the dead."

"That's why you killed Kevin?" I asked.

He smirked, "No, Kevin died to help us. The ring was always in my possession. It was a requirement for him to die. Once he was dead he could seek out a mediator. He would tell them that he was murdered and he would only move on once he got the ring back. Of course the mediators or shifters would try to help him. He would lead them to one of the Zodiac and then we would dispose of them."

The information was hitting me likes stones.

They would lure my kind to their deaths…

"Well I think that I enough for one day," he said.

"So you are just gonna kill us?" Suze asked.

Dimitri smiled.

God…is he gay or something? What's with all the smiling?

"Not today Simon, but soon."

He bent down and scooped Hailey into his arms then he headed for the door.

"Where are you taking her!" I yelled.

He didn't answer.

Before I could get away Kevin raised his hand and struck me on the side of my head.

The last thing I heard was Suze's scream.

……………..LATER………………

I slowly opened my eyes to see Suze's face looming over mine.

"What happened?" I asked.

"A lot, it'll come back soon," she said.

I looked around me. We appeared to be in a small room of some kind of house. There was a dresser with clothes piling out and a closet. Jack was leaning against Jesse's shoulder on the floor, sleeping. My parents were sitting in two chairs, sleeping also. And Hailey…

I looked around the room frantically.

Hailey wasn't there.

My head began to hurt as all of the memories rushed back.

Dimitri… the Gemini… he walked through her shield… Kevin… the ring… he took her away…

And I was knocked out.

Again!

God my luck sucks…

I looked up at Suze, "I remember, are you ok Suze?"

She nodded, "yeah, it kind of scared me when that ghost hit you though. You were bleeding and everything."

"Glad to know you care," I mumbled and sat up.

Suze glared at me, "and what's that supposed to mean?"

"Shut up Suze, you'll wake everyone up." I said, "where are we anyway?"

"At my uncle's house," she said, "he lives here in Seattle, I haven't spoken to him in year though. Him and his family must be out of town because no one is home."

"How did you get in?" I asked.

"I shifted."

I nodded.

Suze just sat there and stared at me, "what are you thinking about?" she asked.

I sighed, "Truthfully, Hailey. I wonder where she is. I keep thinking that she is lying dead somewhere."

"Don't," Suze said, "she is way stronger then that. There is no way in hell that she is dead. Don't worry we'll find her."

There was a long pause and I couldn't help but think of the worst. What if Dimitri had hurt her? What if he was using her for some scientific experiment or sexual thing?

I clenched my fists.

If he lay a single finger on her…

Well, then I just couldn't be held responsible for my actions.

"You really like her don't you?" Suze asked suddenly.

I looked at her but Suze was looking over at Jesse who was sleeping soundly. Her eyes were filled with pure love for the cowboy. A love I had never understood.

Until now…

I nodded softly, "I guess I do. I can't stop thinking about her."

Suze looked at me and a small smile formed on her lips, "Now you know how I feel about Jesse. Hailey is really sweet, but fiery. She really likes you Paul."

I looked up at Suze in surprise.

"She said that?" I asked.

"She didn't need to," Suze said softly, "I have eyes Paul, I see how you look at her, and how she looks at you."

I stood up and stretched.

"Where are you going?" Suze asked.

"To get a drink," I headed for the door, "get some sleep Suze."

She nodded and lay down on the floor next to Jesse, resting her head on his shoulder that wasn't occupied by Jack. She kissed his cheek softly and then closed her eyes.

Walking down a narrow hallway I found a small kitchen. Opening the fridge I noticed that it was almost empty except for a carton of milk, cheese, some fruit, and a six pack of red bull.

Taking out a red bull I opened it and took a long drink from it. Wincing at the sudden energy rush I could feel my power awaken in me.

Wow…red bull really does give you wings…

Looking back down the hallway, I made sure that everyone was still asleep. Then I slipped on my jacket and opened the front door.

Walking out into the warm night I looked up and down the street.

I wouldn't leave Hailey to be kept captured by Dimitri.

I had to find her…


	12. Rescue

Chapter 12: Rescue

I began to recognize where I was and I noticed that Suze's uncle's house was only about seven blocks from where I lived. Heading in that direction I made sure that I kept away from the street lamps and remained in the shadows of the houses. I suspected that the Gemini were still out looking for us.

As I turned onto my block I headed straight for the park where Hailey and I had first met. I don't know why I went there, but it was almost like I was drawn toward it.

It was almost pitch black and I had to walk rather slow to make sure that I didn't run into anything. When I found the park I sat down on one of the swings and sighed.

I must have sat there for at least an hour.

Suddenly I heard footstep approaching me from behind and I began suddenly alert, allowing my power to flow to my finger tips.

Concentrating on a plastic bucket that was probably left from the day I lifted it up using my power and flung it in the direction the footsteps were.

I voice cursed as the person sunk to the ground.

"Damnit Paul! There was sand in that!" the voice hissed.

"Chris?" I spun around to see Chris's silhouette approach.

"What do you want?" I growled.

Chris brought his hands up, "Whoa man clam down. I'm here to help you."

I laughed, "Bullshit. You are one of them, how do you expect me to trust you?"

"I don't. but I figured that you wanted to rescue Hailey," Chris said softly.

I froze.

He knew where Hailey was…

"Where is she?" I asked.

"Dimitri has her hostage at the old abandon church a few blocks away from our school." Chris spoke as though he was afraid someone would hear.

"Why are you telling me this?" I arched an eyebrow.

"What Dimitri is doing to mediators and shifters has never sat right with me man," he ran a hand through his hair, "My cousin was a mediator. We were really close. When I joined the Gemini, Dimitri found out and killed him."

I nodded, "Thank you."

And before he could respond I pictured my school and shifted.

Bursting into a run, I ran the few blocks to the old church.

I knew it pretty well. I use to go there with Chris and we would hang out behind it, burning stuff.

As I approached, for some reason, I thought of Father Dom. I could just picture him…

'Remember that you are a force of good Paul. Do not let your emotions get in the way of your better judgment…'

I pushed his voice out of my head.

Screw that… I was gonna kick some ass…

Looking in through one of the windows I noticed three men sitting around a table. The all were drinking from beer bottles, and I noticed that they were already pretty drunk. It would be easy enough to get around them…

I noticed that in the corner of the room, there was a figure leaning up against the wall.

It was Hailey.

Her chin rested on her chest.

She was unconscious and I could see a small spot of fresh blood on the side of her head.

I could feel my blood begin to boil as I looked at her lying helpless on the floor. These bastards were so gonna pay…

Shifting into the room I immediately caught the attention of the three men. The all got up and charged at me.

Using my power, I hurled a chair at one of them, knocking him onto the ground. He lay there, holding his head and groaning. I punched one of the men in the jaw and he went flying into the wall, making a dent in it.

The third guy started to head to the back room.

Concentrating on the air around the man I willed it to make a shield.

"Please work," I whispered.

Suddenly the man ran into the invisible wall. I approached him slowly and willed the barrier to close in around him so that the space become smaller and smaller.

"Let me out please!" he yelled, beating on the walls.

"Where is Dimitri?" I asked.

The man shook his head, " I don't know! Please let me out!"

Glaring, I continued to make the space smaller until all four side pressed up against him.

"Tell me where he is!" I yelled.

The man struggled to breath from the pressure on his chest, "He's not here! He and that Kevin ghost guy left about an hour ago after they dropped off the girl! They told me to watch her and make sure that she didn't regain consciousness for to long!"

I clenched my fists ,"you hit her?"

The man couldn't answer me, he had run out of air and was now gagging.

I could let him die…

Make him suffer for what he did to her…

I let the barrier fall and the man crumpled to the ground.

I couldn't do it… I'm just not like that…

Rushing over to Hailey I carefully picked her up. She was like a rag doll in my arms as her whole body fell limp against me.

"Hang on Hailey," I whispered into her ear.

I closed my eyes and pictured Suze's uncle's kitchen.

When I opened my eyes, I was there.

Suze came rushing out of the room, followed by Jesse.

"Where the hell were you!" she exclaimed, "You told me that you were going to get a drink!"

"I had to find her," I said softly as I carried Hailey to the master bedroom where she could rest without everyone else around her.

Suze followed me, and Jesse came soon after with an ice pack.

"I found this in the freezer," he handed it to me, "perhaps it will help."

I looked at him, "thanks De Silva."

Maybe Jesse wasn't as bad as I thought he was…

Sitting beside Hailey on the bed I placed the icepack on her forehead.

"Come on Jesse," Suze said, "let's go check on the others."

Once they left I sighed and ran my hand lightly across Hailey's cheek. I noticed that a bit below her eye there was a purple bruise that stretched down to her chin. I clenched my teeth in pain as my power pulsed through me, eager to do some damage.

If I ever saw Dimitri again…

I felt my eyes begin to fall closed. God, I was tired.

Walking around to the other side of the bed, I lay down beside Hailey. I pulled her close to me and rested my head on her shoulder, breathing in the smell of her hair.

Her breathing was shallow and disoriented and I couldn't sense any of the shifting power in her.

What had Dimitri done to her?

Lifting myself up, I leaned over her and pressed my lips to hers softly. They were strangely cold and stiff. I closed my eyes a focused my power, willing some of it to flow into Hailey.

I could feel myself begin to weaken as power drained out of me. When I was satisfied that her breathing had become somewhat normal, I pulled away gasping.

My hands were shaking and the room around me was beginning to spin.

Laying back down beside her, I closed my eyes and let sleep take me.

………………THE NEXT MORNING………….

I woke up to find Jack sitting onto top of me, watching me expectantly.

"What happened to you?" he asked, "You look awful."

I pushed him off me and he fell to the floor with a crash, "Thanks."

He got up and looked like he was going to yell at me or something, but then he looked over at Hailey and his features became concerned.

"Is she gonna be ok?" he whispered.

I looked over at Hailey myself. She was breathing normally and looked like she was merely in a deep sleep.

"Yeah," I said, "she'll be ok."

Jack nodded, "You can take a shower now, I'll watch her."

Though I was reluctant to leave her, I pulled myself into the bathroom and looked in the mirror.

Jack wasn't kidding, I looked horrible.

My hair flew up in all sorts of places and my clothes were wrinkled and torn. Running my hand through my hair, I noticed that there was a small cut along my hairline. Probably from when Kevin knocked me out.

I took off my shirt and pants before I got in the shower and as I undid the buttons I noticed another bruise forming on my abdomen.

Damnit Kevin!

God…if ghosts could bruise…

Sighing I got into the shower and turned the water on hot. There were two bottles of shampoo and conditioner on the side, so I took them and used them generously in my hair.

There was a knock on the door and it opened a crack.

"Mom and dad did some shopping yesterday and got everyone new clothes. I'll set yours on the sink," Jack said.

"Thanks," I said.

Once I was finished showering I got out and put on the clothes.

"Not bad mom and dad," I said to myself in the mirror.

They had picked out a pair of dark denim jeans and a brown Abercrombie & Fitch t-shirt. It was a loose shirt but it still showed off just enough to make girls have a second glace.

I put some toothpaste on my finger and walked out of the bathroom, brushing my teeth.

When I went back into the master bed room I noticed that Hailey was still sleeping. I rinsed out my mouth with a glass of water and then kissed her softly on the forehead.

"Paul," Jesse said from the door way.

I turned and saw that he was in a pair of jeans similar to mine, and a white shirt.

"Yeah?"

"Your mother has asked me to tell you that her and your father went out to get brunch," he said and then turned and left.

I followed Jesse out into the living room where Suze and Jack were sitting on the couch, watching music videos.

Suze was wearing a pair of dark jeans with a pink t-shirt under a black hoodie. When she saw Jesse walk in she smiled at him, and then looked over at me.

"How's Hailey doing?" she asked.

"She's still sleeping," I said and poured myself a glass of milk.

After that I put on my jacket, "I'm gonna go for a walk," I said.

"Watch out for them Paul," Jack said, not taking his eyes off the TV.

I nodded and walked out the door.

It was a rather dreary day in Seattle. There was a thick fog and everyone in a while I could feel a raindrop on my cheeks.

Everything seemed to be happening so fast…

Just a little over two weeks ago I had moved back here, ready to start where I left off. But here I was, being thrown into a mess that really changed me. My parents now knew about my gift that I had kept from them since I was little. I met Hailey and she changed me more then I would like to admit. I was missing so much school that it's not even funny…

And now the people who I tried to leave in my past in Carmel were now here with me again.

And the funny thing was…

I wouldn't change any of it.

I looked up and noticed that I had walked about three blocks while I was thinking.

Turning back around I headed back to the house, making sure that I wasn't being followed.

Jus as I got back in the house it started to rain.

Good timing…

I entered the house to see that no one had moved from there spot, but know they were watching Fear Factor.

I threw my jacket onto the couch and went to go and check on Hailey again.

When I opened the door to the room I froze.

She was gone…


	13. The Plan

MRS.NIKKI SLATER: OMFG! CAN YOU LIKE READ MY MIND OR SOMETHING? I WROTE THIS CHAPTER ALMOST A WEEK AGO AND I JUST GOT YOUR REVIEW YESTURDAY! FREAKY I TELL YOU!

Chapter 13: The Plan

I frantically search the room for her. I looked in the closet, and even under the bed, but she was gone.

I turned to leave the room to look else where when I ran into someone.

I looked down to see Hailey drying her hair with a towel.

"Gosh, watch where you are going Paul," she mumbled and walked past me.

She was wearing new clothes to. She was wearing a pair of light denim jeans and a copper looking t-shirt.

She turned and looked at me, "Are you ok?" she asked, "you look like you've seen a ghost or something. Although that would be normal considering--"

Before she finished, I pulled her to me and pushed my lips on hers.

She squealed in shock and dropped the towel she had been holding. She stopped resisting and returned the kiss.

Her lips were soft and warm. She was really here, she was ok…

She put her arms around my neck and ran her hands through my hair. I placed my hand on the small of her back and pulled her closer, deepening the kiss.

I kicked the door closed and pulled her over to the bed. She seemed hesitant at first, but let me push her down onto the pillows.

"Don't scare me like that," I said in between kisses.

She smiled against my lips.

She rolled me over so that she was on top and continued to kiss me. I touched my tongue to her bottom lip, asking for permission. She opened her mouth in acceptance and I let my tongue explore her mouth, memorizing every inch.

Her hands went to the edge of my shirt and slowly began to creep under in. I shivered as her hands felt along my stomach.

"Ouch," I gasped as she pressed lightly on my bruise.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Just a bruise, courtesy of Kevin," I mumbled and kissed her lightly.

She got off of me and sat beside me on the bed.

"Thank you for coming after em Paul," she smiled at me softly, "it was like I was dreaming. I saw you come in and attack those men. I also saw your barrier, very well done, although I was nervous that you would kill him."

I looked at my hands, "I wanted to," I admitted, "I wanted to kill him for what he did to you but…I just couldn't."

She kissed my cheek, "I'm glad you didn't."

I looked over at her. Her hair was still damp from the shower and it curled softly around her beautiful face.

"I care about you lot Hailey," I blushed slightly, "I want you to know that."

She smiled and leaned over, pressing her lips to mine.

"I care about you a lot to Paul," she smiled.

I smiled again and kissed her passionately, pulling her to me again.

We kissed for a while longer until Hailey put her fingers against my lips and pulled away.

"We should go let the others know that I'm ok," she whispered.

I groaned, "Or we could stay here and leave them to worry."

She laughed and pushed me playfully.

Before I could grab her she got off the bed and walked out the door.

I followed her down the hallway. When we entered the kitchen and living room area everyone looked up.

"Hailey!" Jack yelled and rushed to hug her.

Suze got up next and hugged her tightly, "How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Much better."

Even Jesse gave her a soft hug, "I am glad you are feeling well. Paul was rather worried."

Hailey looked at me and smiled.

"So," Jack said, sitting back down, "Not that everyone is back together and such, what are we supposed to do about this Dimitri character?"

Everyone gathered around in the living room and thought.

"We could move," Jack said after a few minutes.

Hailey shook her head, "That wouldn't work. They have organizations in every major city in the US."

"So we move to Canada," he shrugged, "they are way nicer up there anyway."

(I mean no offense)

Suze glared at him, "Do you know any French buddy? Because I heard that they speak a lot of it up there."

"Actually Susannah, they speak both French and English. I read in a book once that--"

"Ok shut it!" I exclaimed, "Who cares what languages they speak, we are not moving to Canada! Even if we did somehow get away from them, that wouldn't stop them from killing others."

"Good point," Suze said.

"So then what do we do?" Jesse asked, running a hand through his brown hair that seemed to mesmerize Suze so much…

"I say we kill Dimitri," Jack said.

Everyone just stopped and looked at him.

Wow…the idea of murder…coming from a child…

No more TV for him.

Ever.

"We don't want to kill anyone," Hailey said, "that would just be sinking to his level. Besides, if he dies, then there would be a chance of him coming back as a ghost to haunt us. Trust me, I do not need another murder bent ghost on my ass."

"Speaking of which, what are we supposed to do about Kevin? Was he really even a mediator when he was alive? Or was that a lie as well?" I asked.

Hailey shook her head, "No, he really was a mediator before he died, but Dimitri never knew about it. Because he was a mediator, we can't simply shift him to the Shadow Land."

I sighed, "So the only way to get rid of him, is to actually get him to open the door."

"Why do we not try to figure out why it is he is still here?" Jesse asked.

"We already tried that. Besides, I doubt that he will be willing to talk with us anyway," I said.

"But we should give him the chance of moving on properly," Jesse insisted.

I blinked at him, "You have been hanging around with Father Dom way to much."

"And is there a problem with that Slater?" Jesse glared, "He is a brilliant man, though I doubt you would know seeing as you were to busy chasing after Susannah to actually ever listen to him."

"Oh get off it Jesse," I hissed.

Jesse stood up in a rage and took a step towards me.

I meant get off the subject…not the couch…

Suze grabbed him arm and forced him back down, "Calm down Jesse, that's all in the past now."

Jesse sighed and nodded.

Weirdo………

"So we get rid of Kevin first?" Hailey asked.

Everyone nodded.

"How are we supposed to get him to open a door?" I asked, "We can't open it for him without being sucked into it."

"We have to convince him to open it," Jack said.

"And how exactly do we do that? The guy is bent on getting us all killed, how do we convince him to give that all up and move on?" Hailey asked.

Everyone sat in silence.

"There is no convincing him," I sighed.

Suze was getting frustrated, "well then what do we do!"

"We shift him to the Shadow Land," Hailey said softly.

"Hailey you know that that won't work. He can just get out remember?" I said.

She shook her head, "I'm not so sure about that anymore."

"What do you mean?" Jesse asked.

"Remember what Dimitri said?" Hailey said, "He said that the ring gave him all of the powers of a shifter. If he had been watching us this whole time, then he would have seen Paul shift him. Then all he had to do was shift to the Shadow Land and get him. Paul, when you shifted Kevin, you said he was screaming as you left right?"

I nodded…my head was still ringing…

"If he was able to get out himself, then why would he have screamed in terror like that? I think he was truly scared that he wouldn't get out this time," she pointed out.

"I think you may have something there Hailey," I smiled at her.

She smiled back and nodded.

"So we are back at square one then," Suze said, "We can't get rid of Kevin without getting rid of Dimitri first."

"I still say that we kill him," Jack sighed.

"Shut up Jack," I said.

Hailey laughed a little bit, "So that's it then, we have to get that ring."

"Hello! It's on his finger! How are we suppose to get it off?" Suze huffed.

That was true…

I sniggered as the scene from Lord of the Rings came into my head…we could always bite his finger off…

Nah…too much blood for my liking…

"So it's decided then. We will lure Dimitri to us, kick his ass, and take the ring," Hailey said.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Just then my mom and ad walked in carrying two large McDonalds bags.

"We weren't sure what you all wanted so we jut got a bunch of things," my dad said, placing the food on the table.

Everyone dug in, grabbing whatever they could.

I grabbed Big Mac, and large fries and a coke. Then I went and sat beside Hailey on the couch. She was busy eating some chicken McNuggets and fries.

"So how exactly are we going to lure Dimitri to us?" I asked between bites.

"I suspect that there are Gemini all over the place looking for us. So if we just wander around at night, maybe pretend like we are trying to get back into my house, then they will find us," she said.

"How do you know that they won't just kill us on the spot?" I arched an eyebrow.

She turned and smiled sweetly at me, "I don't! That's the fun part!"

Fun part?

She has some major thrill issues…

"Ok then, what ever you say," I shrugged, "so we head back to our houses tonight after dark?"

"Yeah, I would like to stop by my house and get some more clothes anyway," she said.

I nodded.

I should probably get more stuff for my family as well.

………………THAT NIGHT……………….

That night I opened my eyes and looked at the clock. It was already midnight.

Nudging Hailey who was asleep in my arms I leaned over and kissed her softly on the lips. She smiled against my lips and opened her eyes.

"Is it time to go?" she asked.

I nodded, "I can hear Jesse and Suze. They are already up."

We both got up and walked into the living room, where Jesse was hugging Suze and stroking her hair softly. I couldn't quite hear what he was whispering in her ear, but I suspected it wasn't for my ears to hear anyway…

Hailey cleared her throat and the pair slowly parted, looking at us.

"You guys ready to go?" Hailey whispered.

They nodded, "The rest of the family are still sleeping," Jesse said.

Good…I didn't need Jack following us tonight…

"Let's go then," I said.


	14. Lose Control

MRS. NIKKI SLATER: WOW YOU REALLY CAN READ MINDS….THIS ONE ID GONNA BE A DOOSY! WELL I'LL THINK ABOUT THE TAG-TEAM BUT I DO HAVE A FEW THINGS LINED UP SO I'LL GET BACK TO YOU ON THAT

Chapter 14: Lose Control

The night was rather chilly and I notice that Hailey was shivering beside me. She was only in a t-shirt so I wrapped my arm over her shoulder and pulled her into me.

"How much farther?" Suze sighed.

"Just a few blocks," Hailey said.

A few minutes later we turned the corner into the street where we lived.

"Let's go to my house first," Hailey said.

I nodded and we turned in that direction.

When we entered her house, we saw that the Gemini had trashed it. There were over turned chairs and couches, broken dishes, and pillow feathers everywhere.

"My foster parents are going to be so pissed when they get home," she sighed, "I guess I'll just tell them that it was a party that got out of control."

I laughed.

"Susannah and I will stay here to keep watch while you two can gather Hailey's things," Jesse said.

"Good idea," Hailey said.

We went down the staircase and headed towards her bedroom. My eyes wandered to the living room where the Gemini had first attacked us…

"You ok Paul?" Hailey asked.

I blinked, I hadn't realized that I had just been standing there.

"Yeah I'm ok," I said.

We went into Hailey's room where I was surprised that they hadn't wrecked it to much. All they did was turn over the bureau and throw all of her clothes around the room.

"Can you hand me that duffle bag that they hung from the ceiling please?" she said as she began to gather clothes.

I nodded and took it down and placed it beside her.

She packed about two pairs of jeans, a pair of silk shorts to sleep in, a dozen t-shirts, two hoodies, socks, underwear, and a bunch of make up.

"There I think that's everything," she sighed and zipped up the bag.

She turned around to go but I grabbed her arm and pulled her into an embrace.

"Are you ok Paul?" she laughed, returning the hug.

I looked down at her, "I just need to hold you for a minute."

She smiled and rested her head on my shoulder.

After a few minutes she looked up at me and kissed me softly. I returned the kiss, placing my hand on the back of her neck so I could deepen the kiss.

She moaned softly against my mouth and I could feel myself begin to lose control…

Pushing her up against the back of her closed door I placed my hands on her waist, pressing my body against hers. Her arms went around my neck and her hands twisted into my hair.

She broke away from my lips, taking in much needed air.

I took that time to place kisses along her neck. I smiled when I felt her shiver against me.

I guess I know where her weak spot is…

Continuing my assault on her neck, I let one of my hands go under her shirt and to her smaller back, arching her into me. She gasped softly as my hand slowly started to move up.

"Paul-"

I sealed her mouth with my lips and her resistance fell. She continued to kiss me until I could feel her tongue trace across my lips. I opened my mouth and she softly pushed her tongue in. I moaned softly. She still tasted like toothpaste…

My hand made it to the clasp of her bra and I slowly placed my fingers on it…

Hailey broke away quickly, "Paul we have to stop," her breathing was heavy.

I groaned, "I don't think I can…"

Kissing her again I picked her up and placed her softly on her bed, not ever letting my lips leave hers.

I couldn't understand how she was doing this to me. It was a feeling that went way beyond lust. It was like a need…I needed her…

She placed her hands under my own shirt and trailed her finger along my back. It felt like she was placing hot coals on my skin, and it was driving me insane. I placed my own hands under her shirt. I needed to feel her, every curve.

I hated being so out of control, and yet I loved the feeling. I had never lost it so bad, just by kissing a girl…

Suddenly there was a knock on the door and we jumped apart, breathing hard.

"Are you guys coming? Jesse and I saw some weird looking people wandering around in the park," Suze's voice said.

"Yeah, we're coming," Hailey called back.

OMFG………Suze I wish you would burn in hell!

Just kidding.

But come on!

Wow, talk about sexual frustration. My head was still spinning.

Hailey straighten her shirt and picked up her bag, her face was beat red.

"We should go," she sighed.

I nodded, still unable to find words.

I followed her out the door, making sure I kept my distance just in case my hormones got the best of me again…

When we got upstairs Suze and Jesse were waiting by the door.

"You guys were gone a long time," Jesse said.

Hailey blushed a few shades darker, "Um…I couldn't find my…eyeliner. Yeah, they trashed my room so it took a while to find."

Nice save…

Even I saw right through it…

Suze smirked and Jesse just looked confused.

"Let's get to my house now," I said.

We went out the back door and around the house, keeping to the shadows, just in case the Gemini were watching. We wanted to be found, but not quite yet…

My house was in the same condition as Hailey's when we walked in. there was broken stuff all over the place. My mom would have a coronary if she saw this…

"I'll go and get your parents and your brother's things," Hailey said.

I sighed, "I'll get my stuff then…"

Walking into my room alone I pulled out a large backpack and began to stuff random stuff inside. A few pairs of jeans, boxer to wear and to sleep in, shirts, and a jacket.

When I walked into my parents room, Hailey was placing some things into a duffel bag. I noticed a smaller bag that I recognized as Jack's. she didn't see me right away so I just stood there and watched her.

She was so beautiful. A stray strand of her long hair fell into her eyes and she gracefully pushed it behind her ear.

"Almost ready?" I asked her.

She looked up at me, startled, "You scared me," she said.

She got up and I took one of the two bags from her.

"Let's go before anyone comes," she said.

I grabbed her arm just as she walked by me and her breath caught.

"Listen Hailey, about before, at your house. I'm sorry if I got carried away," I laughed nervously.

She looked up at me and smiled, "Don't worry about it, I wasn't really helping the situation really."

You got that right…

Looking down at her I wanted nothing more then to kiss her senseless…among other things. But I held back seeing as we were in my parents bedroom. I mean…major turn off.

We both went back to where Jesse and Suze were sitting and I threw Jesse a bag of clothes.

"What about clothes for us?" Jesse asked.

"Suze can share clothes with me, and I'm sure that Paul will lend you some thing for now," Hailey said.

I looked over at Jesse. He didn't seem to thrilled with the idea, but then again, neither was I.

The four of us left the house quietly and decided to cut through the park.

"I don't think this is such a good idea," Suze said, "I saw some weirdoes walking around in here."

"There are always weirdoes in here Suze, it doesn't mean that they are Gemini," I said.

Suddenly someone cut in front of us, and Hailey let out a small scream.

"Chill! Paul it's me!"

"Chris?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'd watch out man. They saw you going into your house. they told me I was supposed to follow you," Chris said.

"Paul why are you even talking to him?" Suze asked.

"He's cool you guys," I said.

"How can you assume that?" Jesse asked, "Is he not a Gemini?"

I nodded, "Yeah, but he's the one who told me where to find Hailey when they took her," I said.

They were all silent.

"Listen Chris, I need you to tell Dimitri something," I said, "Tell him to meet us here tomorrow night at 2 am. We finish this tomorrow."

"That's not smart man, he's to strong," Chris shook his head.

"Just do it," I said.

And with that I punched him as hard as could, I he feel to the ground, unconscious.

"What did you do that for?" Hailey asked.

"I don't want him to follow us," I shrugged.

When we arrived back at the house it was about one am.

"Well we are going to sleep," Suze yawned.

Her and Jesse walked hand in hand down the hallway.

"I'm tired to," Hailey said, "I'll see you later Paul."

She went into the bedroom and closed the door softly.

I went to the bathroom and changed into a pair of boxers and brushed my teeth.

When I went into the bedroom, Hailey was sitting up in bed, brushing her hair. She was wearing a pair of cotton shorts with a tank top.

I lay down beside her and closed my eyes.

"Good night Hailey," I said.

"Good night," she said.

She leaned over and kissed me softly on the lips, her hair fell around my face like a tent.

When she pulled away we just looked at each other for a moment. Brown staring into ice blue.

I leaned my head up and kissed her again, but longer. She sighed against my lips and continued to kiss me. The feeling was electric, I couldn't seem to pull away.

And she didn't either.

Suddenly her kisses became more urgent and she straddled my waist. I let my hands travel from her shoulders and run down her body to her waist.

She tasted so good…I couldn't get enough of her.

Hailey broke away from my lips and kissed my chin, and then traveled down to my neck. My breath caught in my throat when her lips touched my neck.

Not being able to take it any more, I grabbed her around the waist and rolled over so I was on the top. She giggled and I pressed my lips to hers, silencing her. Breaking away from her lips for air I moved down to her neck and she squirmed under me.

I loved having this effect on her. I loved everything about her…

She wrapped her arms around me and rested her forehead on my shoulder.

Moving my hands from her waist to go under her tank top I kissed her lips again. She was shaking under my touch and I knew I was having the same effect on her that she had on me.

"Paul," she whispered.

I moaned and my hands stopped.

"No," she said, "Please, don't stop."

I shivered and kissed her again.

I wouldn't stop now…I couldn't…I needed her too badly now…

"I love you Hailey," I whispered in her ear.

She smiled, "I love you to Paul."

I kissed her again with all I had, one of her legs wrapped around my own leg.

Not letting my lips leave hers, I reached over to the nigh table and turned off the light.


	15. Fight For Life

Chapter 15: Fight for life

The next morning I opened my eyes to see Hailey sleeping peacefully beside me. Smiling at the memories of last night I kissed her forehead and rolled out of bed. Grabbing a housecoat that was on the floor and wrapping myself in it, I went to the bathroom to shower.

Once I got out of the shower I changed into a pair of denim shorts and a red t-shirt.

When i went back into the room, Hailey was sitting in bed, sipping an orange juice. She smiled at me when I came in.

"Morning," I said as I kissed her on the lips.

"Morning," she yawned.

I lay down and rested my head in her lap while she stroked my hair. I noticed that her expression was blank, as if she was deep in thought.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

Her eyes focused again and she bit her bottom lip, "I'm nervous I guess. I mean, what's going to happen tonight?"

I sighed, "Who knows," I shrugged, "We have to get that ring from Dimitri. Once we get that from him them it should be easy to defeat him. After he's gone we can get rid of Kevin easily."

She nodded, "You make it sound so easy."

I smiled, "I can hear the others moving around in the kitchen, we should get up."

She nodded and finished off her orange juice quickly.

When we went into the kitchen, everyone was already awake and eating what looked like scrambled eggs. My mom was standing over the stove with a big smile on her face and egg mix in her hair.

"I haven't cooked for years!" she exclaimed.

"I can tell," Jack gagged on a bite.

It was true. We had had housekeepers and cooks for so long that my mom hasn't had to cook since I was like, five.

Hailey smiled and shook her head when she was offered a plate of eggs.

"Suze, Jesse," I said after breakfast, "Can you two, um…come with me and Hailey for a moment?"

They both nodded and we started out the door when my dad cleared his throat.

"Yes dad?" I asked.

"You four wouldn't be excluding us from anything now would you?" he raised an eyebrow.

I flushed slightly but shook my head.

"No dad, I just need to ask them something about…school."

My dad saw right through it, and I knew it, but he just sighed and went back to reading the paper.

Hailey, Suze, Jesse and I all sat out on the patio.

"We have to talk about what's going to happen tonight," Hailey said.

"We already know that plan don't we?" Suze asked, "We go to the park at midnight, get the ring and get rid of Kevin."

I sighed, "But we have no plan as to how we are going to do that."

"Slater has a good point," Jesse said to Suze.

Wow…he just agreed with me…

Creepy.

"Alright then," Suze sighed, "How do we get the ring form him?"

"Well, I think that if we were to corner him and secure him, then someone could just take it off," Hailey said.

"Yes, but that won't be easy," Jesse said, "The ring gives him all of the powers of a shifter and I doubt he will go down willingly."

"Well, we have to try," Suze said.

Everyone nodded.

"Now that we have that settled, we have to figure out our attack plan. Hailey, Suze and I can use our shifting abilities. Jesse, you could always bring a baseball bat I guess…" I said.

Jesse seemed a little hesitant at the thought of unwanted physical contact.

After a few moments of silence he cleared his throat, "What ever I have to do to protect Susannah."

Gag me…

"Aww, Jesse that's so sweet," Suze smiled and kissed his cheek.

…and gouge out my eyes.

"Ok then, so once we get the ring we won't have to worry about Dimitri anymore so Kevin will be our main focus. So one of us just have to grab him and shift to the Shadow Land, no big deal," Hailey said, "After everything is done all we have to do is shift back here, or walk if we run out of power."

"It's all planned out then," I said.

Everyone nodded and we went back into the house.

Jack ran up to me, "What were you guys talking about?"

"Nothing you need to worry about Jack," I said sternly.

He frowned, "You were talking about mediating weren't you? Why can't I talk to?" he asked.

"I just don't want you to get hurt, that's all. It would be better if you didn't know for now ok? I promise I'll tell you everything tomorrow," I patted his head.

He sighed and nodded, walking back to the couch and sat down.

Well, now that we have everything planned out, all we have to do is wait…

……………THAT NIGHT……………

Hailey pulled her lips away from mine and placed a finger on my lips, stopping me.

"What?" I smirked.

She smiled softly, "It's already eleven thirty Paul, we should be getting ready."

I sighed, "Time flies when you are having fun."

She smacked me playfully and crawled out from under me. She straightened her clothes and her hair and then turned back to me, laughing.

"What now?" I asked.

"Your hair is all messed up," she smiled and ran her hand through my hair.

I grabbed her wrist and pulled her to me, stealing a kiss.

Who knows when I would ever have her lips against mine again? If something happened to one of us tonight…this may be the last time I would get to be alone with Hailey…

"Hailey," I whispered.

"Yeah," she leaned her forehead against mine.

"I love you, you know that right?" I asked.

She smiled and kissed me again, "Yes Paul, I know that. I love you too."

I kissed her again, hugging her.

"What's with all the mushy stuff all of a sudden?" she pulled away for a moment.

"Just in case we don't make it through the night," I whispered in her ear as I kissed her neck.

She sighed, "Don't go jinxing us before we even get started!"

I laughed and back her up into the wall, kissing her again. She wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me back.

I loved the way her lips felt on mine, the way her body felt against mine. I loved everything about her.

After a few more minutes of making out she placed her hands on my shoulders and pushed me back softly.

"We really have to go now," she whispered.

I sighed and hugged her one last time before we walked out the door where Suze and Jesse were already waiting.

"Ready to go?" Suze smiled.

"I guess so," I said.

We walked quickly to the park, keeping our eyes opened for any of the Gemini that might be hiding in the shadows. Surprisingly enough, there was no one…

When we entered the park a thick fog rolled in and I grabbed Hailey's hand. It was cold as ice and she was shaking.

Suddenly there was a soft laughter coming from ahead of us and we all stopped. Jesse tightened his grip on the baseball bat he had.

There were footsteps and then Dimitri stepped out of the fog, Kevin at his side, but otherwise alone.

"So you actually came," Dimitri hissed.

"We were the ones who made the appointment, of course we came," Hailey hissed back.

Dimitri laughed again and stuck out his hand, "Let's begin, shall we?"

Nothing seemed to happen until all of a sudden Suze let out a scream. When I looked at her it looked like she was being pressed in between to walls. And they continued to close in on her.

Hailey raised her hands and sent a powerful force at Dimitri that struck him in the stomach. His concentration immediately dropped and Suze fell to the ground gasping, Jesse at her side looking murderous.

"How did you do that?" I whispered to Hailey.

"It's just like the barrier, just concentrate on sending it at him instead of around him."

I nodded.

Dimitri recovered quickly and his eyes squinted and a park bench was hurled at me. I put up a barrier and it fell to the ground.

Hailey screamed beside me and I looked to see Kevin. He had an arm around her neck and another around her waist.

She flailed trying to get him off of her. Then she put of a barrier around Kevin and hurled him across the park.

I remembered that she had done the exact thing to me when I had kissed her in my room a while ago.

Kevin was immobile for a while so the four of us charged at Dimitri. He shifted behind us and struck Jesse in the back of the head. He gasped in pain and then fell to the ground, unconscious.

Suze looked scary as she lifted the bench Dimitri had thrown at us with her power and threw it back at him.

He waved his hand and a barrier knocked the bench to the side.

I concentrated on the ground beside Dimitri and shifted beside him. He looked at me, surprised, and I punched him in the jaw, sending him flying into a tree.

He got up rubbing his jaw, smirking at me.

"Paul, shift!" Suze yelled.

I got her meaning and shifted beside Dimitri again, grabbing one of his arms.

Suze shifted to his other side and grabbed his other arm.

He couldn't shift now, not without shifting us with him.

Hailey approached us, her arm raised. She placed a barrier around Dimitri so he couldn't use his own barrier to knock Suze and I off him.

He lay there, struggling against the barrier and glaring at Hailey who kneeled in front of him.

Grabbing the hand the Suze was holding onto she smiled and pulled off the ring.

The color in Dimitri's face drained as he realized what had happened.

"Give it back you bitch!" he lunged him self at Hailey, who had dropped the barrier.

Before he could reach her I put a barrier around her and Dimitri ran face first into it.

He picked himself up off the ground and held his nose which was now bleeding badly.

"Suze, can you take care of Kevin?" I asked.

She nodded, "Gladly."

She walked up to Kevin who was still suffering from the effects of the barrier. She knelt in front of him and grabbed his arm and closed her eyes. She collapsed on the ground and I knew that she had shifted.

She opened her eyes and got up a few seconds later, rubbing her head.

"Post shifting head ache?" Hailey smiled.

Suze shook her head, "No, that guy just screams really loud!"

I smirked and Hailey and I turned back to Dimitri while Suze went to Jesse who was still on the ground.

"You think that you've won? Just because you've taken the ring from me?" he yelled and his voice echoed through the night air.

I shrugged, "Pretty much, yeah."

"Well I'm not done yet," he hissed.

And with that he pulled a gun from his jacket pocket and aimed it Hailey.

Bastard…


	16. The End

THIS IS THE LAST CHAPTER PEOPLE! REVIEW AND TELL ME WHAT YOU THOUGHT ABOUT THE STORY!

Chapter 16: The end

My hands began to shake as I stood frozen in shock. Dimitri had pulled a gun out of his pocket and was pointing it at Hailey who's face had gone pale.

Dimitri smirked and chuckled, but it was forced. He was losing his mind…

"Oh how the tables have turned…" he whispered.

That sick fuck…how dare he do this…

I took a step foreword and he cocked the gun.

"Stay where you are or I will kill her!" he exclaimed.

Maybe I could shift fast enough, or put up a barrier around Hailey.

"I know what you are thinking," Dimitri's eyes started to flash back and forth between me and Hailey, "You are probably wondering whether a barrier can stop bullets…"

It can…I know it can…it has to…

"Paul! Paul I've come to help!"

I turned my head in alarm. Running through the fog toward us was Jack.

"Jack go back! Stay away!" Suze yelled as she held onto Jesse.

Jack stopped in his tracks when he saw Dimitri and the gun. His eyes went large and I could see him shaking.

"And who is this?" Dimitri asked, "Your brother by the looks of it."

And then he did the unthinkable, he turned the gun on Jack.

"No!" I yelled.

"Give me the ring and I'll let him live!" Dimitri yelled.

Damn… if I gave him the ring he would have all of his power back, and none of us had enough strength to fight him again. But if I didn't…

"Don't Paul!" Jack yelled, years falling down his cheeks, "Don't give him the ring!"

Jack…he was putting himself in harms way…

I could feel my heart swell with pride for my brother.

"Fine then," Dimitri said.

Then a shot rang out into the night and Jack screamed…

It was like time had stopped…

Hailey raised her hand the last second and concentrated on the gun, turning it on Dimitri. She had used her power to pull the trigger, not Dimitri.

I almost puked at the sight of it. Dimitri had taken the bullet right between the eyes…there was so much blood…

His lifeless body fell limp to the ground and then Hailey knelt on the ground, crying.

I couldn't move…I was shocked at what had just happened.

Jack was screaming in horror and crying as well. Suze just stared at Hailey in shock and clung to Jesse's unconscious body.

My eyes seemed to focus again as Jack ran and hurled himself into my arms. I held him tightly and let him cry in my shoulder, the whole time I didn't take my eyes off Hailey.

She had stopped crying and was just staring at her shaking hands as if she had never seen then before.

"Paul…I- I was s-so s-cared!" Jack wailed, "There's s-so m-much b-blood!"

"I know Jack, just don't look ok?" I said, "You shouldn't have come."

"I- I followed y-you guys. I- I wanted t-to h-help!" he wailed.

I looked over at Suze and she nodded, taking Jack from me.

I walked up to Hailey and knelt in front of her, tilting her head so she was looking at me. Her eyes were red and puffy and her lower lip was shaking.

"I…I…I killed him Paul," she whispered in shock.

I pulled her to my and hugged her tightly.

"Thank you," I whispered.

"What?" she gasped, "How can you be thanking me? I just killed someone!"

She grabbed onto my shirt and clenched her fists, trying not to cry.

"You saved Jack, Hailey," I said softly, "I can't thank you enough."

She began to cry again and I hugged her as tight as I could without hurting her, stroking her hair.

"Let's go home," I whispered.

"I can shift Jesse and Jack. You can go ahead Paul," Suze called out.

I nodded and then I shifted Hailey and I back into the master bedroom. I sat her down on the bed and pulled her into my lap. She had stopped crying and was staring at the room blankly.

"Are you ok?" I asked.

She shook her head, "It's like it wasn't me doing it," she whispered, "It's like I was watching myself do it from far away. I was just…so mad at him…how dare he threaten Jack. He's just a kid. I wanted nothing more then for him to just…stop. The next thing I knew I had used my power to pull the gun from him and then…I just…shot him."

I hugged her and kissed her temple, "No one blames you Hailey. Hell, I would have done the same thing."

She sighed, "I guess there's nothing I can do now."

I nodded.

"What's gonna happen Paul? Someone's gonna find him," she said.

"Yeah, I guess. But when they do a test on the gun, the only finger prints they are gonna find is his. They will just think it's a suicide," I said.

Hailey sniffed, "At least it's over. The Gemini shouldn't bother us now that Dimitri is dead."

I nodded.

"We should get some sleep," I said.

Hailey nodded and took off her shirt, putting on a tank top and then a pair of cotton shorts. I just took off my shirt and pants and crawled into bed in my boxers.

Hailey crawled in next to me and I wrapped my arms around her waist, kissing her nose.

"I love you," I whispered.

But she was already asleep, a single tear still evident on her cheek.

Kissing it away I closed my own eyes and let the darkness swallow me.

………THE NEXT DAY……..

"Paul! Hailey! Wake up!"

My eyes opened and I groaned. Hailey rubbed her eyes and yawned.

We both got up and went into the living room where my parents were sitting in the living room. When we entered they looked at us, their faces were stern.

Crap.

I noticed that Jesse was conscious and he and Suze were standing in the kitchen while Jack sat on a chair.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"We need an explanation Paul," my mom said, "they found a man dead in the park out in front of our house and when Jack heard it on the radio he must have jumped at least a foot. What happened last night?"

I flushed.

"It was my fault," Hailey said softly.

My parents looked shocked.

"Mom, dad! Don't be mad at her!" Jack exclaimed, "If it weren't for Hailey then that man would have shot me!"

That sure didn't make them happy….

"What the hell do you mean by that?" my dad yelled, "Why was someone trying to shoot at you!"

"Calm down dad! It was Dimitri, the guy who attacked us at the hotel. He's been trying to kill us and last night we had a fight," I tried to explain, "He pulled out a gun. Jack wasn't supposed to be there but he showed up at the wrong time. If Hailey hadn't turned the gun on Dimitri with her power then Jack would be dead right now!"

My dad placed his head in his hands and sighed.

No one spoke for what seemed like years. Then my dad looked up.

"I guess we should be thanking you Hailey," mom said.

Hailey didn't say anything.

"So what happens now?" my dad asked.

"Nothing," I said, "The cops can't connect any of us to it unless someone saw us. We just have to keep an eye out for the Gemini for a while."

They both nodded.

A few hours later after everyone had been put up to date on what had happened last night, everyone got ready to leave. Suze and Jesse were going back to Carmel and we could go back to our old homes now that everything was settled.

We cleaned up Suze's uncle's house as best we could before we left and my dad left a few hundred dollars on the counter as a thank you. When they got home they would find the money, and have no clue who left it.

Suze was rather emotional at the airport as she said good bye. She hugged Hailey and she promised that they would visit each other this summer.

She even gave me a hug.

"You better treat her good Slater or else I'll have to come over here and kick your ass," she whispered in my ear as she embraced me.

"You know me Simon, of course I'll take good care of her." I smirked.

She rolled her eyes and grabbed her bags.

Jesse hugged Hailey gently and shook my head.

"I have to admit that you've changed Paul," he smiled at me, "I hope we see each other again in the future."

"Sure thing Jesse," I said.

I guess I underestimated him as well…he wasn't as bad as I had assumed him to be a few months ago.

As they walked onto the plane Hailey yelled out to them, "I better get an invite to the wedding!" she yelled.

Suze smiled and nodded.

Oh goodie…

……………..LATER………..

I pushed Hailey on the swing in the park outside my house later that day. There was still police tape around the area Dimitri had died, and Hailey still tensed when she looked at it.

"So what happens now?" she asked.

A soft warm breeze blew through her hair and I smiled.

Stopping her swing I knelt in front of her and held her hands.

"I don't know," I said, "I guess that we'll have to just wait and see."

She smiled softly down at me.

Leaning up I captured her lips with mine, savoring the feeling of her soft lips. She smiled against my lips and kissed me back.

Wrapping my arms around her waist I stood up, making her stand up to, my lips never leaving hers.

"Let's go somewhere more private," I smirked.

She glared at me and was about to protest when I kissed her again, pressing her up against me.

Imagining a nice secluded place I closed my eyes and shifted, taking Hailey with me.

THE END

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